TiVo Very strange technical issue

dodgem22 · 31-01-2014, 20:17

Hi all since October one of my tivos (the bedroom outlet) has been suffering from the occasional glitch.

The glitch consists of pixelating for a second or two on occasions it is mainly on recordings. However it is very intermittent and it perhaps only affects one program a day regardless of channel.

The other Tivo is not affected.

Virgin are stumped to what the cause is as since October they have checked signal levels repeatedly, swapped the box, renewed the external cable to the affected box and now renewed the internal cable to the bedroom to and it is still having the same problem. They say networks have checked the cabinet repeatedly to and they dont know what else to do.

I am perplexed as what the cause could be.

Anyone have any ideas please.

jb66 · 31-01-2014, 20:52

I woukd swap the boxes round to see if it still occurs on the same box, if so its a hardware issue

dodgem22 · 31-01-2014, 21:20

Hi jb66 Virgin replaced the original box the issue was with and the replacement box has the same issue I think it may be a Virgin tv issue more than tivo issue im not sure it is very strange and the technicians are stumped as they have swapped the box, checked signal levels and replaced internal and external cabling and yet the fault still manifests and they say the cabinet is ok to

spiderplant · 31-01-2014, 22:35

Is it happening when you have back-to-back recordings set on the same channel? If so, it's a known software fault. You might be able to avoid it happening by changing one of the series to an alternative version of the channel. For example, if you have back to back recordings on channel 103, change one of them to use 113, 114 or 853 instead. Or maybe pick up a repeat showing on ITV2.

dodgem22 · 01-02-2014, 14:20

hi spiderplant sometimes it happens back to back but it also happens on non back to back recordings another poster has suggested it might be something in my house causing it to happen. The only things that have changed from before the fault is I replaced my tv and now have a now tv box connected so I am now wondering if one of these may be the problem.

spiderplant · 01-02-2014, 20:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgem22

hi spiderplant sometimes it happens back to back but it also happens on non back to back recordings another poster has suggested it might be something in my house causing it to happen.

Be aware that Suggestions may also count as back-to-back recordings. The fact that it started in October would also point at this bug, as it was introduced by a software update around then.

Whereabouts are you? I can check the exact date you got the update.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgem22

The only things that have changed from before the fault is I replaced my tv and now have a now tv box connected so I am now wondering if one of these may be the problem.

It's an interesting theory. The TV is most likely. Try connecting it using SCART instead of HDMI for a few days, and see if the problem goes away.

Mr.Lemming · 03-02-2014, 23:20

There could be something local causing electrical interference or SNR on the cable.. I used to have a issue when my central heating turned on, the picture pixelated for a few minutes.. Only seemed to happen as it switched on and took me a good while to work out what it was. Easily fixed by putting better quality cable in. Although it wasn't official virgin cable to start off with, once replaced with virgins it was fine. Although this doesn't explain why it would only happen on recording. :/

dodgem22 · 04-02-2014, 14:47

Hi mr lemming it does happen on live tv to not just recordings I have checked the heating and it is not to blame still as puzzled as ever as to what the cause is. someone has suggested it could be over utilisation whatever that is?

spiderplant · 04-02-2014, 15:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgem22

someone has suggested it could be over utilisation whatever that is?

They are wrong. They are talking about broadband utilisation, but can have no effect on broadcast TV as they are totally separate.

paultrademark · 04-02-2014, 15:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant

They are wrong. They are talking about broadband utilisation, but can have no effect on broadcast TV as they are totally separate.

So why are people having an issue with the TV picture pixelating only after 4-5pm till around midnight?

nashville · 04-02-2014, 16:36

When I go to open my recorder unit on my P C, it sometimes sticks, I can copy a cd onto my P C but when I put a blank tape in to record, it just makes a clicking noise. I know the blank CDs are not faulty, any ideas please,

spiderplant · 04-02-2014, 17:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

So why are people having an issue with the TV picture pixelating only after 4-5pm till around midnight?

Here are some possible reasons:
1) That's when they have the central heating on
2) That's when they have the lights on
3) Their neighbours have a TV connected directly to the cable, and it sends noise up the cable when they are watching TV
4) Some other source of noise that is only present in evening
5) The signal level changes when the temperature drops at night
6) It actually does it all the time, but they only notice in the evening when watching properly instead of having the TV on in the background

Mr.Lemming · 04-02-2014, 17:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodgem22

Hi mr lemming it does happen on live tv to not just recordings I have checked the heating and it is not to blame still as puzzled as ever as to what the cause is. someone has suggested it could be over utilisation whatever that is?

Hmm, could be what i'm thinking then.. Although the cable virgin uses is pretty good and should block out any weird jumps in noise or interference (providing all the connections have been put on properly and tightened up, check yourself with a spanner or pliers if they are tight). If all the cables have been changed I cant see it being this. Id swap your box's around for a few days and see if the fault persists in the same room or the other, along with try and work out if it matches up with anything else that gets turned on. If you see it on a recording you would be thinking about the time which it was recorded not the time your watching it. Although it could be something of your neighbours causing the issue meaning you don't have a chance of working it out…

You hear or many strange and weird things causing these errors.. take a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signal-to-noise_ratio for more info.. But such things as energy saving light bulbs, cordless landlines, christmas lights, microwaves are to name a few.

A very unlikely issue but nether the less possible is theres a small jump in power from the mains which causes the box to pixelate. Again working out what's causing this would be hard, I guess a large extension lead to downstairs which is on a different ring main.. Although think I'd have given up well before I bothered doing that.

A network engineer could check if there is any noise coming from the cable itself however you can't book these out via a call centre, a service tech would have to arrange for them to visit once they had visited. I guess you class them as the next stage in technical knowledge, they tend to look after large areas, not customers house's. However the equipment they use can detect these errors. That said if whatever it is causing these issues isn't happening at the time they plug their meter in they won't be able to see anything anyway.

I'd check all your connections are tight, check if all the connectors look new and shiny so as to be sure the cables were fully swapped.. And try swapping the upstairs box for the downstairs and see what happens.

paultrademark · 04-02-2014, 19:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by spiderplant

Here are some possible reasons:
1) That's when they have the central heating on - NOT ON WHEN HAPPENS
2) That's when they have the lights on - NO CHANGE TO LIGHTING
3) Their neighbours have a TV connected directly to the cable, and it sends noise up the cable when they are watching TV - NO IDEA HOW TO TEST THAT
4) Some other source of noise that is only present in evening LIKE WHAT?
5) The signal level changes when the temperature drops at night - SO HOW CAN THAT BE FIXED?
6) It actually does it all the time, but they only notice in the evening when watching properly instead of having the TV on in the background - NOPE, TV GETS WATCHED DURING DAY TOO

Cheers, will put all that to the engineer when he comes tomorrow to check

spiderplant · 04-02-2014, 20:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

Here are some possible reasons:
1) That's when they have the central heating on - NOT ON WHEN HAPPENS

But what about your neighbours' heating?

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

3) Their neighbours have a TV connected directly to the cable, and it sends noise up the cable when they are watching TV - NO IDEA HOW TO TEST THAT

As Mr Lemming says, it's a job for a specialist Network Tech.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

4) Some other source of noise that is only present in evening LIKE WHAT?

Street lighting. Radar. Taxis. Pirate radio stations. Secret military stuff.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

5) The signal level changes when the temperature drops at night - SO HOW CAN THAT BE FIXED?

As long as the signal level is set correctly on your cable it's unlikely to matter, as the boxes can cope with a certain range of variation. It's mainly a problem in summer when the cabinets can get very hot.

Quote:

Originally Posted by paultrademark

6) It actually does it all the time, but they only notice in the evening when watching properly instead of having the TV on in the background - NOPE, TV GETS WATCHED DURING DAY TOO

You know all these people?