TiVo Troubleshooting | Midco Cable TV Support

Troubleshooting

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Reboot TiVo DVR

Follow the instructions below to restart your TiVo® DVR. 

Your DVR can take 10-15 minutes to completely reboot. Guide and program information may take up to 24 hours to completely load after your device restarts. Restarting your device will not affect recorded shows, OnePass™ recordings, WishList® searches or TiVo Suggestions. If a recording is in progress when you reboot your DVR, the recording will resume once the DVR restarts.

Newer TiVo Experience
  1. From the Home screen, use the left arrow button on your remote to highlight the Menu icon.
  2. Select Help, and then Tips & Troubleshooting.
  3. Select Restart Box.
Classic TiVo Experience
  1. From the TiVo Central screen, select Settings & Messages.
  2. Choose Help, and then Restart Box.

As a safety measure, your TiVo DVR will direct you to press the Thumbs Down button three times, and then press Enter to confirm you want to restart your device.

You can also manually restart your TiVo device by unplugging the power cord, waiting 15 seconds and then plugging the power cord back in to your DVR.

Troubleshooting Recordings

Find more information about why your TiVo DVR may not have recorded a show. 

During a power outage, your TiVo DVR is unable to record any scheduled programs. If a recording is in progress when power goes out, the recording will resume once power is restored and the DVR restarts. Note: In this case, the recording may show up in two parts.

Power outages do not affect your OnePass™ searches, WishList searches and all existing recordings in My Shows. Shows in your To Do List will record as scheduled once the power is restored.

Your DVR tracks not only how much space you have left on your DVR, but also how much space will be needed in the future for your scheduled recordings.

  • If your DVR isn’t full, but it tells you there isn’t room to record more shows, your DVR is telling you that you don’t have enough room for all your currently scheduled recordings and the one you’re trying to add.
  • If your DVR will be full in the near future, it will suggest options – such as allowing some shows to be deleted early – which will allow you to schedule more recordings.
  • The amount of recording space your DVR needs varies by channel and show. Fast-moving sports shows and action movies take up more recording space, and high definition shows will take up more space than standard definition shows.

These troubleshooting instructions differ depending on the TiVo Experience available on your TiVo DVR. See which experience you have.1

Check your service connection status to make sure your DVR is connected.

  • If you have the newer TiVo experience: From the Home Screen, select the Menu icon, Settings and then Network Settings.
  • If you have the classic TiVo experience: From TiVo Central, choose Settings and then Network Settings.

View your recording activity or history for an explanation of why the show didn’t record. 

  • For customers with the newer TiVo experience: From the Home Screen, select the Menu icon, Manage and then Recording Activity.
  • For customers with the classic TiVo experience: From TiVo Central, choose My Shows, followed by Search & OnePass and then History.

Some reasons why your show might not have recorded include:

  • There was a conflict with a repeated recording. When there is a conflict, shows are recorded according to their priority in your OnePass Manager. See how to resolve or avoid conflicts.
  • Your OnePass is set to record new episodes only, and the show was a rerun. Manage your OnePass search settings.
  • The show was deleted from the My Shows list by someone else in your household.
  • There was a conflict when requesting another show, and you accepted the proposed resolution to delete the missing show earlier than planned.
  • There was a power outage that affected the recording. See information below about what happens during a power loss.

General Troubleshooting

Get general troubleshooting help for your TiVo DVR, or contact us at any of the options below. 

For general troubleshooting for your TiVo DVR:

  1. From the Home screen, press the left arrow button on your remote to highlight the Menu icon.
  2. Select Help and then Tips & Troubleshooting.
  3. Select Reset to Defaults to reset your TiVo DVR to factory settings. Options include the following. Please note important details below about how resetting defaults can affect your service.
    • Repeat Guided Setup – We do not recommend you use this if you get your TiVo DVR from Midco. This resets your channel lists.
    • Clear Thumb Ratings and Suggestions – This will remove all Thumbs Up and Thumbs Down ratings and deletes the list of upcoming TiVo Suggestions. It does not delete TiVo Suggestions that have already been recorded.
    • Clear Guide & To Do List – This will clear all Guide information and cancel all upcoming recordings. It does not delete shows in your My Shows list, OnePass selections or remove Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down ratings. The TiVo DVR will acquire new program information for the Guide, though this may take more than hour to complete.
    • Clear & Delete Everything – We do not recommend you use this if you get your TiVo DVR from Midco. This option restores your TiVo DVR to its original factory settings, clearing all OnePass and WishList Searches, ratings, suggestions, recordings, etc. If you select this, you may require a technician to visit and re-set up your TiVo DVR.

1 TiVo services may not be available in all areas and some restrictions may apply. TiVo DVR requires a Midco Internet 50 connection or higher. Not all TiVo DVRs are compatible with the newer TiVo Experience. Contact us with questions. TiVo and the TiVo logo are registered trademarks of TiVo Inc. and its subsidiaries worldwide.