Arrrgh! Bl**dy digiboxes!

I'm sick to the back teeth of my digibox crashing.

I think we're on our third one now that we use with a TiVo and everyone of
them has crashed with varying degrees of frequency.

I did wonder if it was anything to do with temperature but a Sony HD PVR
(with built in digital turner) in the same space under the telly doesn't
have any problem (it's never crashed). We've tried leaving the doors off
the under-telly compartment but it's made no difference (it's really not
that warm in there anyway).

If it wasn't for the fact that the Sony is in every other regard, a million
percent inferior to the TiVo, I'd just use the Sony but we like (nay, love)
our TiVo and want to keep it as long as possible but I've long since lost
count of the recordings that have failed due to the boxes crashing.

Have I just been unlucky or is there an issue with the TiVo control of
extenal devices, possibly sending out IR signals that cause the boxes to
crash? Are there any "bullet proof" boxes around that never (or at least
very very rarely) crash and are compatible with the TiVo?

Lastly, as an aside, why won't my Humax digibox pick up 5life? We've
rescanned & rebooted but it won't pick up anything. Picks up 5US fine and
our Sony picks op 5life. (Not that I'm desperate to have it but it's just
odd that it won't pick up one channel).

Tim

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I'm sick to the back teeth of my digibox crashing.

I think we're on our third one now that we use with a TiVo and everyone of
them has crashed with varying degrees of frequency.

I did wonder if it was anything to do with temperature but a Sony HD PVR
(with built in digital turner) in the same space under the telly doesn't
have any problem (it's never crashed). We've tried leaving the doors off
the under-telly compartment but it's made no difference (it's really not
that warm in there anyway).

If it wasn't for the fact that the Sony is in every other regard, a
million percent inferior to the TiVo, I'd just use the Sony but we like
(nay, love) our TiVo and want to keep it as long as possible but I've long
since lost count of the recordings that have failed due to the boxes
crashing.

Have I just been unlucky or is there an issue with the TiVo control of
extenal devices, possibly sending out IR signals that cause the boxes to
crash? Are there any "bullet proof" boxes around that never (or at least
very very rarely) crash and are compatible with the TiVo?

Lastly, as an aside, why won't my Humax digibox pick up 5life? We've
rescanned & rebooted but it won't pick up anything. Picks up 5US fine and
our Sony picks op 5life. (Not that I'm desperate to have it but it's just
odd that it won't pick up one channel).


Are you talking about a Sky Digibox?

We used to have a Grundig digibox and the kids would come to me maybe once
or twice a week saying they couldn't change channels. So I done the usual
switch it off and back on and wipe the card and it would work for another
wee while. I wouldn't think any more of it.

Then we got a TiVo after I read the reviews about how wonderful they were.
After a week of using it my wife was wanting to throw it in the bin and I
constantly heard her say it was a piece of junk. I don't really bother with
the TV so never paid much attention ;o)

However when I sat down to watch a football match that I had told TiVo to
record, I couldn't believe it had recorded the Cartoon Channel and started
investigating

Enough of my waffle, it turns out the Grundig Digibox had been freezing and
you couldn't turn the channels unless you powered it down and back on again.
This would be happening every couple of days or so. It was absolutely
roasting as well and probably didn't help the fact it was on 24/7. So I put
it along with the TV and TiVo on a time switch going off for most of the
morning. I think this helped initially but it was soon back to freezing the
channels especially when TiVo was about to record something.

I don't think TiVo has an issue with any digiboxes but think it just
highlights any problems that may be there. If you miss a recording, you are
definitely going to know about it. Did your digibox behave like this
before the TiVo came along?

I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset "occasionally"
until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic TU-DSB31. He reckoned
his never had to be reset. So I bought the Panasonic off eBay last November
and I've never had a missed recording yet on TiVo.

The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record from it if
it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus side the menus on
the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the grundig. They appear
instantaneously whereas the Grundig could take around 6 or 7 seconds to
populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best thing since sliced bread as far as
my wife is concerned ;o)

Steven.

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I'm sick to the back teeth of my digibox crashing.

I think we're on our third one now that we use with a TiVo and everyone
of
them has crashed with varying degrees of frequency.

I did wonder if it was anything to do with temperature but a Sony HD PVR
(with built in digital turner) in the same space under the telly doesn't
have any problem (it's never crashed). We've tried leaving the doors off
the under-telly compartment but it's made no difference (it's really not
that warm in there anyway).

If it wasn't for the fact that the Sony is in every other regard, a
million percent inferior to the TiVo, I'd just use the Sony but we like
(nay, love) our TiVo and want to keep it as long as possible but I've
long
since lost count of the recordings that have failed due to the boxes
crashing.

Have I just been unlucky or is there an issue with the TiVo control of
extenal devices, possibly sending out IR signals that cause the boxes to
crash? Are there any "bullet proof" boxes around that never (or at
least
very very rarely) crash and are compatible with the TiVo?

Lastly, as an aside, why won't my Humax digibox pick up 5life? We've
rescanned & rebooted but it won't pick up anything. Picks up 5US fine
and
our Sony picks op 5life. (Not that I'm desperate to have it but it's
just
odd that it won't pick up one channel).


Are you talking about a Sky Digibox?

We used to have a Grundig digibox and the kids would come to me maybe once
or twice a week saying they couldn't change channels. So I done the usual
switch it off and back on and wipe the card and it would work for another
wee while. I wouldn't think any more of it.

Then we got a TiVo after I read the reviews about how wonderful they were.
After a week of using it my wife was wanting to throw it in the bin and I
constantly heard her say it was a piece of junk. I don't really bother
with
the TV so never paid much attention ;o)

However when I sat down to watch a football match that I had told TiVo to
record, I couldn't believe it had recorded the Cartoon Channel and started
investigating

Enough of my waffle, it turns out the Grundig Digibox had been freezing
and
you couldn't turn the channels unless you powered it down and back on
again.
This would be happening every couple of days or so. It was absolutely
roasting as well and probably didn't help the fact it was on 24/7. So I
put
it along with the TV and TiVo on a time switch going off for most of the
morning. I think this helped initially but it was soon back to freezing
the
channels especially when TiVo was about to record something.

I don't think TiVo has an issue with any digiboxes but think it just
highlights any problems that may be there. If you miss a recording, you
are definitely going to know about it. Did your digibox behave like this
before the TiVo came along?

I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset "occasionally"
until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic TU-DSB31. He
reckoned
his never had to be reset. So I bought the Panasonic off eBay last
November
and I've never had a missed recording yet on TiVo.

The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record from it
if
it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus side the menus on
the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the grundig. They appear
instantaneously whereas the Grundig could take around 6 or 7 seconds to
populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best thing since sliced bread as far as
my wife is concerned ;o)

Steven.

You need to be careful with Tivo and the IR wands. They need to be carefully
placed to avoid reflections. The fron IR blaster should also be turned off.

For reliable changes there is a unit that plugs into the ir blaster socket
and sits in the RF line.

Works 100%.

I've got one spare if you're interested? I think they're about £20 new.
Yours for a tenner.

Steven Campbell wrote:
"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I'm sick to the back teeth of my digibox crashing.
[...]

Are you talking about a Sky Digibox?

Nah, just regular terrestrial ones.

[...]
Enough of my waffle, it turns out the Grundig Digibox had been
freezing and you couldn't turn the channels unless you powered it
down and back on again. This would be happening every couple of days
or so. It was absolutely roasting as well and probably didn't help
the fact it was on 24/7. So I put it along with the TV and TiVo on a
time switch going off for most of the morning. I think this helped
initially but it was soon back to freezing the channels especially
when TiVo was about to record something.

Sounds exactly like our symptoms.

I don't think TiVo has an issue with any digiboxes but think it just
highlights any problems that may be there. If you miss a recording,
you are definitely going to know about it. Did your digibox behave
like this before the TiVo came along?

Can't remember. Feels like we've had the TiVo forever. ;-)


I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset
"occasionally" until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic
TU-DSB31. He reckoned his never had to be reset. So I bought the
Panasonic off eBay last November and I've never had a missed
recording yet on TiVo.
The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record from
it if it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus side
the menus on the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the
grundig. They appear instantaneously whereas the Grundig could take
around 6 or 7 seconds to populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best
thing since sliced bread as far as my wife is concerned ;o)

It would appear that that's a pretty old model now (none on ebay) so I guess
I won't go with that. Perhaps a newer Panasonic might be the route to go,
assuming of course I can get the right codes for the IR control. Think I
need to go to the TiVo forums.

Thanks for the info though.

Tim

Steven Campbell wrote:
I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset
"occasionally" until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic
TU-DSB31.

Just remembered, we used to have a Panasonic TU-CT20 that kept crashing (got
donated to my mum) so perhaps Panasonic ain't crashproof either. :-(

Tim

mikes wrote:
You need to be careful with Tivo and the IR wands. They need to be
carefully placed to avoid reflections. The fron IR blaster should
also be turned off.

It's off already.


For reliable changes there is a unit that plugs into the ir blaster
socket and sits in the RF line.

Works 100%.

I've got one spare if you're interested? I think they're about £20
new. Yours for a tenner.

Forgive me, but it sounds like snake oil. How does it work? What does it
do?

Tim

I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset
"occasionally" until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic
TU-DSB31. He reckoned his never had to be reset. So I bought the
Panasonic off eBay last November and I've never had a missed
recording yet on TiVo.
The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record from
it if it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus side
the menus on the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the
grundig. They appear instantaneously whereas the Grundig could take
around 6 or 7 seconds to populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best
thing since sliced bread as far as my wife is concerned ;o)

It would appear that that's a pretty old model now (none on ebay) so I
guess I won't go with that. Perhaps a newer Panasonic might be the route
to go, assuming of course I can get the right codes for the IR control.
Think I need to go to the TiVo forums.

Thanks for the info though.

Old model maybe but loads on eBay
http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sear...title=TU-DSB31
never had a minutes bother.

Steven.

"mikes" wrote in message
...

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"Tim Downie" wrote in message
...
I'm sick to the back teeth of my digibox crashing.

I think we're on our third one now that we use with a TiVo and everyone
of
them has crashed with varying degrees of frequency.

I did wonder if it was anything to do with temperature but a Sony HD PVR
(with built in digital turner) in the same space under the telly doesn't
have any problem (it's never crashed). We've tried leaving the doors
off
the under-telly compartment but it's made no difference (it's really not
that warm in there anyway).

If it wasn't for the fact that the Sony is in every other regard, a
million percent inferior to the TiVo, I'd just use the Sony but we like
(nay, love) our TiVo and want to keep it as long as possible but I've
long
since lost count of the recordings that have failed due to the boxes
crashing.

Have I just been unlucky or is there an issue with the TiVo control of
extenal devices, possibly sending out IR signals that cause the boxes to
crash? Are there any "bullet proof" boxes around that never (or at
least
very very rarely) crash and are compatible with the TiVo?

Lastly, as an aside, why won't my Humax digibox pick up 5life? We've
rescanned & rebooted but it won't pick up anything. Picks up 5US fine
and
our Sony picks op 5life. (Not that I'm desperate to have it but it's
just
odd that it won't pick up one channel).


Are you talking about a Sky Digibox?

We used to have a Grundig digibox and the kids would come to me maybe
once
or twice a week saying they couldn't change channels. So I done the usual
switch it off and back on and wipe the card and it would work for another
wee while. I wouldn't think any more of it.

Then we got a TiVo after I read the reviews about how wonderful they
were.
After a week of using it my wife was wanting to throw it in the bin and I
constantly heard her say it was a piece of junk. I don't really bother
with
the TV so never paid much attention ;o)

However when I sat down to watch a football match that I had told TiVo to
record, I couldn't believe it had recorded the Cartoon Channel and
started
investigating

Enough of my waffle, it turns out the Grundig Digibox had been freezing
and
you couldn't turn the channels unless you powered it down and back on
again.
This would be happening every couple of days or so. It was absolutely
roasting as well and probably didn't help the fact it was on 24/7. So I
put
it along with the TV and TiVo on a time switch going off for most of the
morning. I think this helped initially but it was soon back to freezing
the
channels especially when TiVo was about to record something.

I don't think TiVo has an issue with any digiboxes but think it just
highlights any problems that may be there. If you miss a recording, you
are definitely going to know about it. Did your digibox behave like this
before the TiVo came along?

I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset "occasionally"
until I was speaking with my mate about his Panasonic TU-DSB31. He
reckoned
his never had to be reset. So I bought the Panasonic off eBay last
November
and I've never had a missed recording yet on TiVo.

The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record from it
if
it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus side the menus
on
the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the grundig. They appear
instantaneously whereas the Grundig could take around 6 or 7 seconds to
populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best thing since sliced bread as far
as
my wife is concerned ;o)

Steven.

You need to be careful with Tivo and the IR wands. They need to be
carefully placed to avoid reflections. The fron IR blaster should also be
turned off.

For reliable changes there is a unit that plugs into the ir blaster socket
and sits in the RF line.

Works 100%.

I've got one spare if you're interested? I think they're about £20 new.
Yours for a tenner.


Is that the RF2 link?
Not sure it would help the OP if his box is crashing. If it simply wasn't
changing channels then yes.
I maybe interested if the OP isn't as the dog is forever knocking the wands
off the shelf with her tail. Although TiVo still works it would tidy it up a
bit.

Steven Campbell wrote:
I just (wrongly) presumed most digiboxes had to be reset
"occasionally" until I was speaking with my mate about his
Panasonic TU-DSB31. He reckoned his never had to be reset. So I
bought the Panasonic off eBay last November and I've never had a
missed
recording yet on TiVo.
The only drawback is TiVo won't waken up the Panasonic to record
from it if it is turned off. So it has to run 24/7. But on the plus
side the menus on the Panasonic are lightening quick compared to the
grundig. They appear instantaneously whereas the Grundig could
take around 6 or 7 seconds to populate. Plus the TiVo is now the best
thing since sliced bread as far as my wife is concerned ;o)

It would appear that that's a pretty old model now (none on ebay)
so I guess I won't go with that. Perhaps a newer Panasonic might be the
route to go, assuming of course I can get the right codes for the IR
control. Think I need to go to the TiVo forums.

Thanks for the info though.

Old model maybe but loads on eBay
http://search.ebay.co.uk/search/sear...title=TU-DSB31
never had a minutes bother.

Might be worth a punt then. I really am sick of the damn things crashing.
We're on our third box and they've all been cr*p (including one Panasonic
one).

Tim

"Tim Downie" wrote:

Lastly, as an aside, why won't my Humax digibox pick up 5life? We've
rescanned & rebooted but it won't pick up anything. Picks up 5US fine and
our Sony picks op 5life. (Not that I'm desperate to have it but it's just
odd that it won't pick up one channel).

Sometimes, the Humax PVR gets confused if the content of a mux gets
reshuffled by the broadcasters, and it's best to restore "default
settings" via the "installation" menu. Is the Humax STB similar?

--
Dave Farrance