Whyyyyy does my tivo hate me?

October 31, 2007 2:03 PM

Whyyyyyyyyy does my tivo hate me!?

I just set up my Tivo Series 2 about a week ago and I love it!

Well... I love it when it works. About half of the time certain channels do not play audio and the picture looks like a stop action movie. It records several programs like this and then next to it will write: partial.

It does this when I watch live tv also, but only certain channels at a time. The channels it does this to change without warning.

It is hooked up to a Tivo wireless reciever because I can not run an internet cable up to my room. I know that my room recieves the internet quite well however because I am typing this question on my computer while using the wireless.

What the hell?

posted by thebrokenmuse to Technology (7 answers total)

You don't say whether or not you are using cable, satellite dish, or broadcast to receive your TV signal, but my answer's the same either way. Your video signal isn't strong enough -- either the cable is loose, your cable signal is weak, or the broadcast signal from your rabbit ears or satellite dish isn't coming in clearly.

When TiVo doesn't get a clear signal, it does what you described -- the loss of audio, the choppy picture, and the "partial" recording.

This "partial" label shows up because if TiVo doesn't have a signal to record, it stops recording -- so the signal goes out for 1 minute during a half-hour program, it records 29 minutes (partial)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 2:12 PM on October 31, 2007

Note that the Wireless adapater is for downloading program guide info, and shouldn't have any effect on your tv reception. The only video that comes over your internet is downloadable content like amazon unBox.
posted by nomisxid at 2:18 PM on October 31, 2007

There is also the possibility that you got a defective box. My father had one where the sound was spotty. (Sometimes it was fine, sometimes it was staticky, sometimes there was no sound at all. This was "inside" the Tivo box, as sometimes the same recording would sound fine and sometimes it would not, so it wasn't a cable signal problem.) He was always complaining about it, and I chalked it up to Operator Error.

But then he decided to get rid of it and he gave it to me ... and I have the same problem with it at my house. (I tried new cables and all that.) By the time I realized the problem was it and not him, it was too late to return. (If you care, I still use it, as it's not so bad. I'm not going to pay for another one, so it is what it is. But if you can't fix your problem, don't rule out exchanging it.)
posted by iguanapolitico at 2:43 PM on October 31, 2007

I agree everything that has been said here. It is likely either your signal, or an internal problem. I would first, check and see if your cable is connected right, etc. Then, call the Tivo support line. They are actually quite willing to help if it is a hardware problem.
posted by bove at 3:25 PM on October 31, 2007

Our Tivo, series 2, has signal strength issues too, change the channel and it takes a few seconds for the picture to "settle". When we get no audio we hit the return/last button 2 times and most of the time the audio is back. These issues come and go without any apparent commonness, it's not weather or loose cables. For months things are fine then for a few weeks the issues come back.
Our cable provider is TW, used to be Comcast. Figure it is something on their end, "line maintenance" blah blah blah
posted by sailormouth at 3:27 PM on October 31, 2007

Seconding the possible defective box - we got a series 2 DT where one tuner was bad. No pic, no sound. Called TiVo support, talked to quite possibly the nicest support person I've ever had on the phone and within 15 minutes, I had an RMA number to send it back for repair/replacement. You're well within 90 days, so I'd give them a ring.
posted by neilbert at 5:11 PM on October 31, 2007

I think it's broke. Call Tivo. Probably a bad hard drive or tuner.
posted by filmgeek at 5:21 PM on October 31, 2007