"TV has jumped to live TV"

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

If your install is coax, check and make sure all of your connections are tight.  If you have done that call ts using the number in my sig and ask the csr to run a test on your service.  If you still don't get any resolution post back here and let us know.

[tadlag]

So, I called Tech support and was told i have line issues. They sent a Tech out who said all my lines test good and he can't see any problem.  I told him several times about the jumping to live tv and he just kind of blew it off. Never gave me a reason or a solution other than replacing my dvr. This has not fixed the problem. Although, with the new dvr everything seems to respond faster.(I used to have a 3 - 5 second delay when changing channels). He also told me that they know there are bugs in the new software update and they are working on them, 'please be patient we'll get it sorted out'.  So, I've taken to hit the record button before I pause live tv so I don't miss anything.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Contact David by clicking on the hyper link in my sig.  He is a UV prem tech who has helped a lot of people.  Send him your info and he or a member of his staff will be in touch with you.

[gbcue]

My runs are all CAT5.

Mind you, I've just experienced this at another U-Verse household.  Same DVRs, VIP1225.  One has the silver remotes, mine has the newer black remotes.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Then I say contact David.

[dgoddard1]

I've had this occur to me 10-12 times in the last couple of months. 

Sometimes, live TV was paused for a few minutes with nothing else being recorded.

Sometimes, yesterday, I was just watching live TV and went to the guide and the message came on the screen.

I also have a local HD station's channel just refuse to play almost every night. I can record it, but not watch it live.

I've been trying to watch all my recorded shows so I can do a full disaster recovery reset of the DVR (VIP-1225).

I plan on doing that this evening. 

We'll see if that solves it, but I don't have much real hope. I think the software is just bad. This is my 3rd box, BTW.

I really like Uverse when it works, but there always seems to be something that does not.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

Have you tried doing a hard reboot of the RG and the dvr?  First unplug the ac cable from the RG for 30 seconds and then reconnect it.  After it reboots do the same thing with the dvr.  I don't think this is a direct issue with your dvr, but this will cause the software to be redownloaded into both pieces of hardware.

[pizza713man]

I'll add my data to the list.

My problems first began about 3 weeks ago. While watching TV in buffered mode, a white banner message with black text reads "This channel has jumped to live TV to allow viewing or recording on the DVR receiver".

The image then jumps to the live pogramming, losing the entire buffer. I am unable to rewind to recover the buffered images.

Examples:

I am watching a football game and rewind to watch a play again. I am now watching buffered images. The banner message will display and jump to live images. I lose all buffered images. Depending on how many times I rewind and pause, I have lost 30 seconds to 15 minutes of a game.

I am watching live TV. My wife enters the room and wants to talk. I pause the show. During the pause the banner message displays, jumps, and I lose the buffer.

The phone rings, I pause the live show. Later I go back to watching the buffered the images. While watching the buffered show, the banner messages displays and the show jumps to live images.

I pause a show to check the guide to see what other shows are on. While paused looking at the guide, the banner message displays and the show jumps.

This problem occurs when watching buffered images and happens both while paused or watching buffered images.

The problem occurs even when no recordings are scheduled or in progress. It does not matter if I am the only one watching or a family member is watching via the STB.

Sometimes it is no big deal to have it jump. Other times I have missed critical endings to a show or a football game. Very annoying! 

I will also send this info to David per the instructions listed above.  Thanks. TR

[pizza713man]

I forgot to add that I contacted. Uverse support about this yesterday. The customer service agent did not seem familiar with this problem. She updated the software and rebooted the DVR. It seemed OK, so we ended the call. The problem happened 3 more times that day and two times today. TR

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

When you call ts and you get a csr who doesn't seem to be able to give you the info you need.  Ask to be transferred to a tier 2 tech.

[Philbert D]

This frequently recurring problem started late Oct. Almost always happens when bringing up the Guide. Current station might not even have been paused at all, but unit will still say it has to jump. This is an obvious DVR problem and most likely software.

Neither of the two other (non-DVR) TV's exhibit any problems when playing live programming (so it's not the gateway or the signal), the problem happens whether or not there is any other TV/internet/phone activity (so not bandwidth- or stream-related), never more than 45% of storage space in use and no recording is taking place (so not buffer-related). I've not seen the problem when playing pausable-STB programming (ie. when the STB is tuned to the same station as the DVR) but if that happened, it still would be the DVR that had jumped, not the STB.

I don't know if this is due to a software update, as some have suggested, but it's extremely aggravating, made more so as there is no known way to report a problem to AT&T online...and they'll want to send a tech to tell me the signal is fine, which I already know. If it is software, it would be nice if AT&T acknowledged the problem, and gave a date for a new release.

I've had DVR's in several forms for years on this and other services. The Uverse equipment has been fine up 'till now, but this problem means one doesn't actually have a DVR. Sorry about the length - just had to vent.

[onegee]

New u-verse subscriber (4 days), exactly the same symptoms. Simple setup: 1 receiver (vip1225) in the house, no other recordings happening, DVR almost empty, watching paused live TV yet it jumps. Often when calling up the guide, other times when pausing/unpausing, and I *think* I've seen it when not touching anything but can't swear that.

This is a dealbreaker of a bug. Incredibly frustrating to be involved in a show or event and then loose chunks of it. That's why I paused it in the first place; I didn't want to miss any of it! If this isn't fixed I'll drop the service and try comcast with Tivo. Set top boxes must "just work."

-- Glenn

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

I only saw it once (posted earlier), and haven't seen it since.

Have you tried unplugging the DVR at the back?  Wait about 10-30 seconds, then plug it back in; that usually clears up most oddities.

[kryptonite]

---

spd2demun wrote:

Have you tried unplugging the DVR at the back?  Wait about 10-30 seconds, then plug it back in; that usually clears up most oddities.

---

I just did that to no avail. What's more is when I fast-forward to live TV, it'll still give the message and then erase the buffer, even though i'm on live TV.

[RCSMG ACE - Master]

I wonder if this the result of a region by region update that is being rolled out by ATT?  Not everyone is seeing it at the same time but more and more people are seeing it.  Just a thought.

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

  And I say it's no longer happening here, but maybe I'm just not seeing it?

---

kryptonite wrote:

---

spd2demun wrote:

Have you tried unplugging the DVR at the back?  Wait about 10-30 seconds, then plug it back in; that usually clears up most oddities.

---

I just did that to no avail. What's more is when I fast-forward to live TV, it'll still give the message and then erase the buffer, even though i'm on live TV.

---

[kryptonite]

I just had an odd one:

I was a few seconds behind. During a commercial break, I flipped channels, so as not to get the white bar. A few seconds after the break ended, I tried to use the "instant replay" button, only it wasn't working. It was like I had no DVR, only a regular box. I then was able to bring up the screen which nornally has the green "timeline bar", only to find out there was nothing to rewind to...even though I had been watching for a few minutes.

[Petruk]

Oh Wow.  I thought I was the only one with this strange happening. I've had this problem for weeks now. I get that weird message, "this channel has switched to live TV". This happens when I'm watching live TV. When it happens, it's like I just started watching the program. There is no rewind space available. All this happened after my original 3 year old DVR was replaced for a different reason.

Since this has happened, I have had the gateway replaced, and the day before yesterday, a phone tech I talked to, did a reset from his end, and then asked if it was ok to do disaster recovery. I agreed. It didn't help. Yesterday a tech came out to check my wiring, and connectors. He said he replaced some connectors along the line and at the NID. I told him I believe it's the DVR, but he didn't agree. An hour after he left, the message popped up again.

This morning I called support again. The woman told me that this sounds like normal DVR behavior to her. I about came unglued. After 20 minutes of discussion, she agreed to send out another DVR. It is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I hope this solves the problem, because I just want to relax and watch TV without any disruptions.

[kryptonite]

Petruk, it sounds like you talked to a Tier 1 agent. These people usually don't seem to know much else other than:

1) unplug your box for 30 seconds and then plug it back in
2) I'll send a signal
3) ok, I'll send a tech

[Petruk]

---

---

kryptonite wrote:
Petruk, it sounds like you talked to a Tier 1 agent. These people usually don't seem to know much else other than:

1) unplug your box for 30 seconds and then plug it back in
2) I'll send a signal
3) ok, I'll send a tech

---

Yeah that's the seems to be the standard routine.  I know it's their job, but it gets a annoying when you tell them you went through this process yesterday, but they insist on doing it again. The last agent I talked to introduced herself as a Tier 2 though.  Very surprising.   

Well the new DVR was delivered by UPS yesterday, a VIP 2250.  Hopefully this will solve the problem.

---

[skeeterintexas]

Since I started this thread, I thought I'd update:  As I posted yesterday on a new thread, my DVR died.   Now I'm wondering if the whole "TV has jumped to live TV" could be an indication that there's something wrong and the DVR is about to go kaput. 

This one is (was) over 4 years old.  What's their life expectancy?  4/5 years?  Less?  I figured I'm lucky to have gotten 4 years out of this one.

[spd2demun ACE - Master]

Mine was just replaced (again) this summer, and I saw it; but only once.  Again, it could be happening more and I'm not here to see it--if the cats could talk...

[kryptonite]

I just had mine replaced a few months ago. Of course, they could have sent me a refurbished one, for all I know. It does sound like something's fishy with the HD though. I'd hate to replace it so soon.

[kryptonite]

Any updates from Petruk would be great.

[tadlag]

I don't believe it has anything to do with the DVR being bad or about to go bad. I had mine replaced with a brand new (not refurbed) one and still have the exact same issues. I'm leaning towards it being bugs in the newest software release.

[kryptonite]

Good news... I guess. Im thinking if we report it to tech support enough, thy may get the memo.

[Petruk]

The new VIP 2250 DVR has been running for 4 days now.  No "switching to live TV" message as of yet.  Have another glitch though.  The second day of the new box, and again last night, the TV shut down, no picture or sound, but the power light on the TV was on.  The DVR was on.  I couldn't use the remote.  I had to manually press the DVR power button which started a reboot.

After watching "The Rite" last night, maybe I need Anthony Hopkins to come by and perform an exorcism.

[kryptonite]

A few people have had this problem with the VIP 1225. Petruk got a VIP 2250. It doesn't have this bug.

Could this be exclusive to the VIP 1225?

[texasguy37 ACE - Champion]

For those who are still having this issue, which TV2 client version do you have?  MENU --> Option --> System Option  --> System information --> System info

[gbcue]

It seems like getting a VIP 2250 may be an ordeal since I only have U200.