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FIOS SD Boxes Going into Screensaver Mode - STOP IT!

I generally like FIOS, but I'm really getting sick of my SD boxes going into standby mode, displaying the FIOS Logo and the words "Press Menu Button to Watch TV". It happens at random, sometimes to both boxes, sometimes to only one. But it makes FIOS completely unreliable with my TiVos, since until I notice they are in this state any recording the Tivos make will be of an hour of screensaver. Even worse, sometimes I am away from home and try to use my Slingbox, only to see the dreaded "Press Menu Button To Watch TV". I CAN'T PRESS THE FIOS MENU BUTTON THROUGH MY SLINGBOX!!

If the boxes are occasionally rebooting or whatever, fine. Stuff happens - programming TV boxes is hard (I guess). But please - just go back into normal TV mode like every other cable box in the universe. From what I understand, this screensaver mode is a new thing that was put into the firmware a year or so ago. Who actually likes this? It's horrible. At the very least, please put an option on the box for restarts to go directly into TV mode with no screensaver. Is that too much to ask?

Why FIOS? Why are you so obsessed with making me dig your remote out of the drawer to press the MENU button?

Comments

lasagna

Actually ... this is the state the box also goes into when it's powered off.

Sounds like maybe the Tivo is trying to power on an already powered on device (and in the process turning it off). You don't need to press the "FiOS" button to "fix" this, you just need to press the "Power" button.

I've not had it go into that mode when the box was in regular operation. Just when it's powered off.

Bishrone

I'm fairly sure it's not power cycling the STB. I used to get it much worse when I had non-existent HD channels in my SD line-up, because if the TiVo would mistakenly switch to an HD channel, after a few minutes the box would go into screensaver mode.

To me this is a fundamental problem with the STB. If I have a thunderstorm and my STB reboots, why should all of my TiVo recordings be toast until I go home and press the MENU button?

spacedebris

Screen saver mode is when the STB gets turned off. While the words "press menu to watch fios tv" is a recent add, its not a new mode. Prior to it saying "press menu" it would be just a blank screen. That really is all that has changed since fios tv came out.

The reason for this is that in the past, when the STB was turned off, it would just go blank. And many people thought they turned everything off, when in fact they only turned off the STB and their TV was still on. This caused a problem as when Verizon would do an update in the middle of the night and the box was rebooting, it would turn on and people would hear voices in their homes. It scared many Elderly customers so bad that Verizon, opted to place a "screen saver" on standby mode to let people know that the box was off but the tv was still on. And thats all this is. It is telling you that the STB is off.

Now you can turn the screen saver off in the menu. But then instead of an hour recording of the screen saver, you would get an hour of a blank black screen instead.

Bishrone

Understood, but really this is the opposite of every other cable/sat box I have used (which were also updated and rebooted remotely). If Verizon is rebooting my box, then they should return it to the state it was in. Or give me the option to choose. Leave it off by default for the oldsters, but at least let me make my system work the way it should.

It looks like my only options are to switch to FIOS DVRs (not going to happen) or upgrade to m

Bishrone

(oops)

It looks like my only options are to upgrade to FIOS DVRs (not going to happen) or upgrade to more expensive cable card Integrated Tivos, which behave properly. Which will cost me $1000. Not loving FIOS quite as much because of this...

Bishrone

OK, I give up. I found a couple of Tivo refurbs for $200 each. Soon I will be free of FIOS STB oddities for the low low price of $400. And with the $2 in rental savings from cablecards vs. STBs, I'll break even in about 8 years. But the reduced aggravation will be worth it.

I have a friend with SageTV who is about to quit FIOS over this though. He can't throw money at the problem to make it go away like I can.

mm2006

Actually, you CAN press "Menu" and "Power" from a SlingBox if it's set up correctly. I use the Motorola QIP2500 remote code on my SlingBox SOLO and have no problems.

There are three ways to turn the set top box back on.

Keyboard:

[M] - Menu

[X] - Exit (in case you hit menu too many times)

[Ctrl]+[Shift]+[P] - power on/off

Menus:

Connect > Remote Keys > Menu

Connect > Remote Keys > General > Power on/off

Mouse (on-screen remote):

Toggle the virtual remote on

Click the appropriate key (the virtual remote on SlingPlayer 2.0 even looks like the FiOS remote if you pick the right remote code in the setup settings)

And if you have the mobile version, you can find the menus for all the remote keys on the various app menus, though the location may vary.

Hubrisnxs

It's a Tivo problem, Here are some tivo folks talking about it The tivo thing has been around a while, and the accepted solutions are as follows

Solution1: Tivo users have reported that this problem is resolved by Changing from Serial to IR cable.

Solution2: TiVO users have not deselected the High Definition channels from their TiVO channel list AND have TiVO suggestions turned on.

TiVO Users are to try the following.

Go to:

1. Tivo Central

Messages & Settings

Settings

Channels

Channel List

...Page down and deselect each HD channel

TiVO users may also want to deselect channels that are not on their cable line-up

2. Messages & Settings

Settings

Recording

Tivo Suggestions...change to No

mm2006

No, can't be a TiVO problem. I have the same thing and never used TiVO before. It's just how these set top boxes work. It happens on all our set top boxes.

I've had recordings (we use a DVD-VCR since we don't have DVR) that get ruined because the box reboots during the night. The best fix I've found is put the box on a UPS (it reduces the number of reboots due to wierd power phenomina) and now I always program the "reminder" feature which seems to power the STB back on when when the program is starting so it comes back up if they push out a software update (which has happened before).

Also, if you ever call the automated phone support thing, it tries to fix problems by rebooting EVERYTHING without asking. Then when they come back up, they're powered off.

It's how the boxes work, just deal with it. I've never seen a cable box work any differently even when we had Comcast.

Hubrisnxs

for people with Tivo's it's definetely a problem with how the TIVO and STB communicate, and if you think about the steps I outlined, then you'll see that for tivo' users it's definetely a tivo problem.

mm2006 wrote:

No, can't be a TiVO problem. I have the same thing and never used TiVO before. It's just how these set top boxes work. It happens on all our set top boxes.
I've had recordings (we use a DVD-VCR since we don't have DVR) that get ruined because the box reboots during the night. The best fix I've found is put the box on a UPS (it reduces the number of reboots due to wierd power phenomina) and now I always program the "reminder" feature which seems to power the STB back on when when the program is starting so it comes back up if they push out a software update (which has happened before).
Also, if you ever call the automated phone support thing, it tries to fix problems by rebooting EVERYTHING without asking. Then when they come back up, they're powered off.
It's how the boxes work, just deal with it. I've never seen a cable box work any differently even when we had Comcast.

Cybrid

This post led me to the solution. I have a Slingbox 350 I installed last week with a Tivo and Fios SD set top box. The remote is configured for the Tivo and works great. While traveling this week, the power cycled at home so the FIOS box went into screensaver mode. I though I would have to call my neighbor to go into my home to press the button on the remote, but I searched Google and found this post.

I reconfigured the Slingbox input to change the remote control and chose the set top box remote instead of Tivo. It didn't look exactly the same as the one at home, but pressing the power button on the remote restored the video - YAY!!!!! Then I just reconfigured the input again back to using Tivo remote and everything works as normal. Technology rules!!!

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