Can you record 4 shows simultaneously without rebooting? Can you watch one of them live as the 4 recordings are being made?
That may be the critical piece. I know I’ve provided some feedback about NOT encountering most of the issues you are are encountering on .18 on my 4 tuner but I need to check my scheduled recordings.
I know I regularly have 3 shows recording simultaneously but may actually not have a scenario where it’s 4 simultaneous. Maybe it’s a “load” scenario? I know in the few issues I DID encounter it actually WAS a low/signal situation that caused the initial reboot which then cascaded into issues with other shows simply because the reboot affected all tuners of course.
3 at a time is never a problem. 4 at a time, which I routinely record both on Saturday nights and Sunday mornings, is always a problem, but only on v18, never on V16.
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Yes, just did.
Tablo Quad
Firmware v2.2.18
Recording Quality: HD 1080 - 10 Mbps
4 simultaneous recordings from 9:00AM - 10:00AM.
2 - 1080i channels
1 - 720p channel
1 - 480i channel
Will do that later this afternoon, and report back.
Early on, I remember having issues while recording 4 shows simultaneously and watching one live. So, I started waiting until all 4 shows started recording, and then watching the recording I wanted while it was being recorded, rather than watching live, if that makes sense. It’s still “live” but I’m watching it under recorded shows. That solved my problem at the time, and I never reverted back. Most shows I watch after they’ve been recorded, so this isn’t a major issue for me.
Just a thought – perhaps your wall wart power supply is showing early signs of failing. On my 4-tuner, the current draw increases slightly with each addition tuner recording.
Jim
I offer the opinion in an earlier post in the thread that four tuner operation might be increasing thermal stress arising from higher resource use, or possibly increased EMI internally, or running out of CPU capacity, or hitting disk I/O limits when all simultaneous recordings are being created, or increased delays/latencies, or some combination of the above. Any or all of these are possibilities, yet version 18 shows the problem whereas version 16 does not, at least not on my unit. I would personally bet that this is a software bug rather than hardware which misbehaves but only with one firmware version. I am not the only one reporting fragmented recordings caused by Tablo reboots, and my postings in this thread of actual Sunday morning recording fragments are clearly demonstrated and entirely reproducible. Unlike some of these bugs which are being reported, rebooting several times in one hour, causing all the recordings to fragment, is an utterly stark and patently obvious failure, whatever the cause, and should never be a result of weak signals, especially since weak signals leave obvious artifacts and should never cause a properly designed piece of equipment to crash/reboot.
Totally agree.
This one was good, too.
Tablo Quad
Firmware v2.2.18
Recording Quality: HD 1080 - 10 Mbps
4 simultaneous recordings from 3:00PM - 4:00PM.
3 - 1080i channels
1 - 720p channel
Watched 1 of the 1080i channels for 1 hour while all 4 simultaneous recordings occurred.
Thanks for your data. My Recording Quality was / is set to HD 720p 5 Mbits/sec (“Recommended”), half of yours. My mix of programs is unknown but almost certainly either 1080i or 720p in all cases, typical network HD content. (Sunday mornings Meet the Press, This Week, Fox News Sunday, CBS News; Saturday nights is NBC Dateline, CBS 48 Hrs, ABC 2020, and a 4th PBS show.)
I am using an essentially new WD 1TB Passport, with identical fragmentation previously occurring on 18 month old WD 1TB Passport as soon as v.18 was installed. Replaced HDD hoping to solve fragmentation, but no joy.
So if firmware bug is not the issue here, marginal CPU, memory, or other Tablo internal hardware issue seems most likely (so much for my betting on firmware!)
Hard to believe lower Recording Quality I am using could explain this…
Mysterious
Gonna retest with Recording Quality: HD 720 - 5 Mbps.
Is your Tablo connecting to your network via ethernet cable, or wireless?
Mine is via ethernet cable.
My network is all hard-wired Ethernet for all video and audio devices.
And a most sincere Thank You @Radojevic for your testing efforts referred to in replies above,
Larry
This one was good, too.
Tablo Quad
Firmware v2.2.18
Recording Quality: HD 720 - 5 Mbps
4 simultaneous recordings from 8:00PM - 9:00PM.
3 - 1080i channels
1 - 720p channel
Watched 1 of the 1080i channels for 1 hour while all 4 simultaneous recordings occurred.
Looks like my 4 tuner box may have some marginal hardware. I will swap out the wall warr to see if it helps. I am thinking of replacing my 2 tuner with a 4, so I might just order the new 4 and see how it does with v18. Also wondering if Tablo does return-to-factory service / replacements? This box may have been weak since day 1. It certainly has been a PITA since day 1…
Very curious to hear your results. If you get a replacement one and the problems go away almost points toward something at the specific unit level or maybe even a particular “batch” of units since there are at least a handful of others seeing similar issues as to what you are seeing, just not ALL of us.
Tablo sells replacement power adapters for $10, and they’re 2A.
Good to have a spare, since they’re longevity is questionable.
The Tablo 4 - tuner requires a 2A power adapter, while the 2 - tuner requires only a 1A power adapter.
I don’t suppose you swapped them by accident?
It would explain why your Tablo Quad fails at maximum loads.
The other 2 possibilities are environment, and settings.
During my tests yesterday, the room temperature was 65F - 72F, and humidity ~ 45%.
I find my electronics run hotter at higher room temperatures, but also even hotter at higher humidity levels.
My Tablo settings are below for your comparision:
Active Subscription (lifetime)
Tablo Name: RadicalTablo
Auto-Delete Recordings: Checked, enabled
Max Recording Quality: HD1080 - 8Mbps
LED: checked, enabled
Remote Access: unchecked, disabled
6 - Active Channels:
4 - 1080i
1 - 720p
1 - 480i
Don’t Record Duplicates: checked, enabled
Extend Live Recordings: checked, enabled
Enable fast Live TV Startup: checked, enabled
Enable Leanback Mode (TV interface) beta: unchecked, disabled
My 4-tuner experience has been unpleasant since the v.18 update. Lost recordings, recordings missed, phantom episodes (episode entry but no episodes) and blank show icons in the recorded screen. This occurs using the web interface as well as the Roku Ultra and 3rd generation Fire TV (the “dongle” version); a conclusion may be that the client applications are not responsible.
I have given up on Tablo support; can’t get a simple Guide error fixed. Yes, I know that Tablo contracts for the Guide data…how is that my problem?
Try .20
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Phantom recordings seems to be a very widespread and serious problem. It doesn’t seem to be very hard to cause.
So how did release 2.2.18 make it general availability without the problem being observed? And why should it take 4 1/2 months to rollout a fix?
And after I install 2.2.20 will I now be able to watch all those old stale out of date sporting events and shows from months ago? Plus free up the used space.
As the original poster who started this thread in February, I will offer my concluding remarks below:
Four years of ownership of Tablo, combined with huge amounts of wasted time along with hundreds of posts on this and other forums with very little satisfaction have made it perfectly clear. This product is seriously flawed, made much worse by an overly ambitious management decision to add new features and support new platforms rather than deliver solid reliable service. Poor software testing, and very marginal design and coding show up all over the place.
I bought two Tablos, so as to ensure that at least one of them would successfully record the program I want to watch. Tonight, despite programming each Tablo to record “Jeopardy“, my and my wife’s favorite show, neither Tablo recorded the show. One unit is running version .16 firmware, the other running version .18. Given the continuing frustration, I have recently replaced, without any improvements whatsoever, Western Digital Elements disk drives (twice) along with new power adapters, which also made no improvement.
I have deliberately avoided posting here after each of my frustrating experiences, since I am tired of unproductive complaining, and highly doubt it will make a difference.
After four years, I can only respond to the latest .20 announcement with extreme skepticism. I have yet to see a single firmware update which merely fix things without breaking others. My current plan is to consider this post to be my last. I have been doing home video recording since 1969, just about 50 years (starting with the Sony half inch reel to reel deck), along with over the air TV for 60 years or longer, and I have never wasted so many hours dealing with such an unreliable product. Enough !!
Larry
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