Site Totals

61164 Questions Answered 265 Categories

Unable to change channels using guide

I have FIOS Quantum and I occasionally I am unable to change channels using guide. I can scroll through the guide but when I select a channel there is a brief pause and the TV returns to the channel I was previously viewing. This happens with the remote and STB. I've been able to get around this problem by resetting STB but that disrupts any recordings. Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Comments

CRobGauth

There can be a period of time where box does not respond to commands.

Usually if you wait a minute or so, it will begin to respond again.

Have you waited that long before?

Haven't heard of a case where it quite responding all together.

Wylecyot

Yes, this morning I walked away from the TV for 2-3 hours hoping the problem would correct itself. It was still happening and I needed to unplug the STB and reboot to get it to work right.

SinCara

I don't know your setup, but make sure any splitters you have in your home are moca 2.0. If they aren't problems will happen with Quantum. A lot of people have issues and come to find out it's just the splitter not being moca 2.0.

I would also recommend rebooting your router if you haven't yet. If you have the correct splitter and the router reboot isnt working try rebooting your ONT and see if that fixes anything.

Headhunter06

I have the same problem with my VMS1100 STB and the IPC media clients. But it only happens with my Samsung 4K TV (a 2014 model HU6590 50" 4K), and not any of my other TVs, including a 2014 Samsung regular 1080p HD TV with nearly the same software as the 4K TV. Just as with you, when the problem happens (as it routinely does several times per day) the guide will display, but I can't select from within the guide to change channels and can't manually input a channel like "600". I can scroll through the guide with no problem, but just can't tune channels from it or input them manually. The only way to change channels is to flip up or down one by one. Like you, the only remedy seems to be to do a full reboot of the STB. Once rebooted, it'll be fine for a few hours and then will again go on the fritz seemingly without any rhyme or reason.

I've done a bit of troubleshooting to try to isolate when this glitch occurs, but I don't have a firm answer for why it happens. The problem appears to be some kind of HDMI communication issue between the STB and the Samsung 4K TV. To test this, I switched the STB from the HDMI output to the component output, and the problem disappeared. I went weeks with this config and had no problems. Then on a whim, I switched back to the HDMI output and the problem immediately reappeared. Unlike HDMI, the component cables do not allow direct communication from the TV to the STB, and so that at least isolated the problem to something involving the HDMI - STB relationship. My recommendation to Verizon is to have the Arris engineers develop a patch for the VMS1100 and the IPCs that will prevent TV-STB comms over HDMI from corrupting the STB itself.

While I would much prefer to use the HDMI rather than the component output on the STB, I've compared both pictures and will admit that it is hard to tell if there is a discernable difference in picture quality. Purists say there is a difference. Sometimes I think "yes, HDMI is better", and other times it is "I'm not sure I see a difference". My wife claims to see no difference whatsoever, and asks if I would please, please quit dorking with the TV during her shows. Still, I ought to be able to use HDMI without issue. My TV is supposed to "upscale" 1080p to near 4K quality, but I do not know if it upscales only on HDMI or on both HDMI and Component. If it is HDMI only, not having a relaible HDMI option is a serious issue.

So short term mitigation -- not a fix -- is to try using the component output. Long run fix is for Verizon to ask that Arris engineers develop a patch for the VMS1100 and the IPCs that will prevent these odd TV-STB comms over HDMI from corrupting the guide and channel functions on the STB itself.

Headhunter06

After the above post, I decided to dig through the TV's menus to see if there were things that might be communicationg from the TV to the STB over HDMI. I turned off a bunch of lesser functions -- such as the TV's automatic time setting and the HDMI Anynet settings. Also turned off many of the Smart TV's internet functions that I'll never use (or that are more than a tad creepy), like the Yahoo gizmo that recommends things based on my viewing habits. So far, so good. I've had no Guide and channel flipping lockups over the last three days. Knock on wood, but maybe (just maybe) one of those lesser settings in the Samsung TV's menus is the cause?

I also discovered that with the IPCs (the Media Clients), you can run HDMI and Component simultaneously. You can't do that on the VMS1100. So I was able to quickly switch inputs to see if picture quality is better on HDMI and whether the TV upscales to near 4K on both HDMI and Component. The answer is --- Yes, it upscales on both. Over a variety of channels and program types (news, movies, sitcoms, cooking shows, etc) there is no discernable difference in picture quality between the two inputs. So, if HDMI continues to lock my guide and channel changing functions, I won't feel conflicted about switching back to the component output from the STB.

Child Item