STB now has idle power off

[bfgcb]

Apparently, either to better monitor user watching habits, or to extend the life of an STB, my FIOS powers off after a certain period of idle time. This "FEATURE" is not a feature, it's a P.I.T.A.  In our house, we spend time working on crafts, projects, or other things together, with the TV on in the background. When we're doing our weekly house cleaning, we also keep the TV on in the background.  If VZ wants to sell my TV program habits, that's slimy, but at least it makes sense. If VZ thinks it extends STB life by shutting off the power several times a day, that's an example of how the technical experts are gradually becoming technical i d i o t s. At any rate, we are beyond irritated with this arbitrary decision as to when we can watch TV or not .Is there a way to disable this? I could understand if it was even remotely logical as to when to implement an idle shutdown . After midnight, when most people are asleep? Yes. At 1100, or1400, FREAKING i n s a n e ..

[walt178]

You should contact customer support as that is not normal operation.  It is likely your STB is defective.  I have 2 STBs whcih stay on all the time.  Neither of them has powered off. 

[sangs1]

Have four boxes, never shut them off and they don't shut off automatically - unless they were reset for whatever reason. So as the poster above said, this is abnormal behavior. Maybe there is a setting for auto-off somewhere (like with DirecTV), but I've never come across it.

[prisaz]

I had Cisco and Motorola hardware for a while, at different times, can't have them both at the same time. I do remember an annoying issue like this, but don't remember which hardware. I believe there was a screen saver function that would put the box in a power saver mode if there was no remote control activity after a period of time, or no scheduled recordings. I think it was Cisco. It may have been somewhere under Settings / TV or STB? Not 100% sure. Now all my hardware is MS Media Center based.

[walt178]

I'm not familiar with the Cisco models.  I have the Motorola 7232-2 and  7100-2, both with screen saver enabled and on a few occasions  they have been left on with no activity for several days without shutting off.  As near as I can tell from the user manual all that mode does is park the DVR drive when it's not in use. 

[bfgcb]

UPDATE: turns out it somehow got a "sleep setting", where it shuts off after 4 hours if idle.

[0100010]

You can turn that off.  Menu - Settings - Set Top Box - Sleep Timer - Never.  I noticed it myself last week - got a pop up that said something to the effect of "Your STB will enter Standby in a moment, press OK to continue watching TV."  It had two options to select, Watch TV or Set Inactivity Timer.  I immediately changed that timer to Never - no issues since.

[walt178]

What brand/model STB has this feature? 

[Justin46]

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@walt178 wrote:

What brand/model STB has this feature? 

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Good question. I just looked on my QIP7232 and there is no such option, at least not in the path described. I have the latest version of the IMG, 1.9.4. And my STBs, all of them, have never shut off. I leave them on 100% of the time and have never seen or made any settings related to that kind of action, in almost 8 years now, through several STB models and lots of IMG levels.

Maybe on Cisco boxes?

__________________________________
Justin
FiOS TV, 25/25 Internet, and Digital Voice user
QIP7232, QIP7100-P2, IMG 1.9.4
Keller, TX 76248 (VHO 1)

[tlb7]

>>Justin: Maybe on Cisco boxes?

I have a Cisco CHS 335HDC and via Menu > Settings > Set Top Box, there are 2 pertinent options--IMG 1.9.1:

1. Screen Saver: "no screen saver in standby" and "screen saver in standby"

2. Auto Power-Off: "never", "2 hours", "3 hours", "4 hours"

I have my options set to "no screen saver in standby" and "never"

Justin: I've been meaning to thank you for your "IMG Getting Started" pdf. I found it very helpful. If you ever do an update, you may want to add that for those with a heaing loss who need closed captions to make programming accessible (like me!), that the Cisco stbs (at least the CHS 335HDC), all 6 digital closed caption options ("CC1" through "CC6") display closed captions unlike the Motorola stbs with which only digital closed caption option "CC1" displays closed captions (digital closed caption options "CC2" - "CC6" do not display closed captions) and the display quality of the Motorola stbs' "CC1" digital closed caption option is extremely poor (virtually unreadable) with pixelization of the display text and misproportioned caption text box.