Concurrent playback on difference devices isn't working

Finally cut the cord this morning and am enjoying getting the tablo all set-up.  I’ve run into an issue I can’t seem to solve and has got me worried I was sent the wrong device.  I bought the 4-tuner tablo, and things are working well so far.  It’s playing a show right now on my Roku LT and I’ve been able to successfully play shows on my Android phone and laptop (Windows 7, google chrome).  The problem I’m having is when I start playing something on one device, it stops playback on the previous device.  For example, I have a live TV show playing on the Roku.  While that’s running, I open the tablo guide on my laptop and select a different show.  Playback begins on my laptop but stops on my Roku.  Then I play something on my phone and it stops playback on my laptop.  It’s behaving as if playback is only allowed on one device at any one time.  My understanding was the 4 tuner device would allow playback of 4 different channels simultaneously.  Ideas?  (BTW - I updated the firmware to 2.1.20)


Not sure if this is related or not, but one thing to be aware of: I’m currently running it WITHOUT a hard drive (it’s on order, but hasn’t arrived yet).  In theory I would think the 4 tuners should still be able to churn out live TV simultaneously, but I wonder if the hard drive is needed in order to do what I’m describing, even if all 4 devices are viewing live TV.

When there is no hard drive present, only one tuner is active on the Tablo.  So it is performing as expected.

Perfect - panic mode: off!


Thanks for the speedy response!

You’re welcome.  After your hard drive is plugged in and formatted by the Tablo, you will be able to watch shows concurrently on all your devices.  You can watch up to 4 different channels and as many recorded shows as your network can handle (Tablo says about 6 devices at once).

dwt I’m gonna pick on ya a bit - the quick-start card says at the top of the backside, connect antenna, connect hard drive, connect power last.   :wink:


It has to have the drive to buffer things, it’s working ahead using the drive as sort of a working memory area, sort of like the top of your desk. If your desk was taken away, it would really mess you up (well, it would me anyway!)
dwt I'm gonna pick on ya a bit...

lol - chiding accepted.  But in my defense, I had the tablo in hand and the hard drive’s not going to arrive for a few more days.  You’re telling me you wouldn’t play with the shiny new toy!?

Can’t tell you that. If I did I’d be lying!  :D


Maybe that’s why mine is running on a temporary drive because my Tablo arrived last Saturday but the final drive for the Tablo wasn’t to arrive until last Monday. but I did have a SATA drive dock and a couple spare SATA drives laying around. I couldn’t resist either.   :wink: