NEW - Tablo Firmware Release 2.2.32

I would love to understand why some of us have zero issues with updates (like me) and some end up with nearly catastrophic issues. Is it all about the variable settings everyone has theirs setup to?

I believe so, and that’s the tricky part.

For what it’s worth these are my settings. And again zero issues with the latest update 4 days ago. Other than turning on remote access about a month ago none of these settings have changed in years. Oh and maybe a few channel changes in the guide over the years. And I reserved the IP address for Tablo in my router. Tablo is wired to the router.

  • Auto delete recordings on
  • Recording and live TV quality set to HD 720 30Mbps
  • Surround sound off (never used it)
  • Led on
  • Commercial skip off (never used it)
  • Remote access on, full quality (only have this on for testing) (I don’t actually use it) (it’s been working just fine)
  • 29 channels in the guide (of the 54 available)
  • Don’t record dupes on
  • Extend live recordings off
  • Enable fast live TV startup off
  • Enable leanback mode off
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The choice of settings certainly is a possible cause for variable experiences.

Also consider network variables, which may contribute to the problem. My network has 68 devices, many related to home monitoring and control, Along with numerous eight and 16 port switches, cat5 wiring to a 3 story home with dozens of hardwired outlets, dual band Wi-Fi, etc.

Then add the RF environment, with, in my case, multiple antennas, amplifiers, distribution hardware, and a few dicey channels.

And then, the atmospheric and terrestial effects like precipitation, wind, skip and tropo, and multipath.

Not to mention that ATSC digital television transmission relies upon a not so robust error correction scheme which easily degrades, recovers poorly, and accounts for a multitude of OTA issues not present in wired/cable transmission.

You’re a candidate for ATSC 3.0

Yes, you being unhappy does not equate to something being someone else’s fault. For every unsubstantiated flaw/issue/problem you listed, there are plenty of users out there enjoying there tablos across various platforms hassle free, wondering “what?”

There have been several user with various engineering backgrounds pass Tablo Community forums ranting how they know what the problem is and how easy it could or should be fix! Again, while so many ignorant users are happy with their product.

best option,
https://www.tablotv.com/ask-tablo/

cause you’re not getting far with this stinky topic l8tr

Well, yes and no, Mark -

With crummy eyesight and not so great hearing, the leap to 4K UHD and latest Dolby audio would hardlly be appreciated, as would higher bitrates, bigger storage, and more fragile transport streams. The newer profiles with HDR and wider color gamut are lost in my cheapskate monitor and projector.

I am also a bit skeptical about ATSC 3.0 when used in a legacy environment. Some of the earlier testing both in Korea and the US experienced significant issues when transmitting both conventional 1080 HD streams using h.264/AVC when simulcasted with and muxed with HEVC 4K UHD.

Of course, cable companies and Internet streamers don’t worry about any of these issues since they don’t use ATSC. OTA guys like us, on the other hand, have a vastly different and way more complex environment for transmission.

ATSC 3.0 should have better transmission qualities. Antennaman has several videos in which he’s tested ATSC 3.0 broadcast signals in terrible situations and has gotten good reception where ATSC 1.0 delivers nothing.

Hi Mark,

What you say is correct, but doesn’t cover the case I am concerned about, which is the most likely scenario.

Unlike the situation you describe, where robust reception of ATSC 3 is favorably compared to ATSC 1, I am concerned about the situation where broadcasters will be generally simulcasting both formats at the same time. This will be essential for compatibility, since relatively few receivers will handle ATSC 3 for years.

Since the older ATSC 1.0 tuners do not recognize nor decode ATSC 3 because they are not upward compatible, broadcasters will need to transmit content in both streams and multiplex them together. In this situation, ATSC 1 reception will experience, to viewers like me, degradation, not improvement. Apparently, Korean tests before the Olympics in 2017 revealed this unexpected degradation.

If I had to express a personal opinion as to why such degradation occurs, it would be that delayed multipath causing some of the signal content to arrive at the antenna of the receiver on a delayed basis, confuses the demultiplexing processor. Even the robust forward error correction code stream repair on the 1080 HD stream cannot overcome delayed and therefore spurious HEVC packets corrupting the AVC stream. I have not seen this theory elsewhere, but it makes sense from an engineering viewpoint.

Unlike the analog to digital transition which had a formal cut off date, this transition will not be formally managed. However, there is a mandated five-year time for both legacy ATSC 1 signaling to be maintained once a broadcaster begins ATSC 3.

Unless a technical solution is available to fix the problem identified above, those with the legacy 1.0 hardware should expect degradation.

I solved the problem that I was having with Tablo playbacks and connections after the firmware update. Here are the details: When I kept getting “Reconnecting…” or strange behavior every couple of minutes, I assumed that the firmware had somehow altered my Tablo’s connection to my router. I assumed that the Tablo was dropping the signal frequently in a way that it had never done before. After trying many things, I eventually decided to do a factory reset on the Tablo. But that did not solve my problem either! However a post by @Larry_Florence on my “Constant Reconnecting…” thread made me realize that perhaps the Tablo was having a problem connecting to my external drive, not my router. Since the Tablo factory reset did not reformat the drive, I decided to disconnect the drive, reformat it on my Mac, and then add it back to the Tablo. (I was willing to lose all of my recordings to restore my Tablo back to being usable.) Doing that Mac reformat caused Tablo to recognize it as a new drive that needed to be formatted. As soon as the Tablo formatting finished, I have had no more playback problems, or any other problems!! I’m now thinking that the firmware install clobbered my external drive in some minor way, not enough to cause the factory reset to think that my drive needed to be re-formatted, but enough that the Tablo could not establish a usable connection to my drive. Now my Tablo seems to be working perfectly! That’s something I haven’t enjoyed for 3 days. (Praying that this will continue!) :slight_smile:

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Thanks very much Aubrey for your very useful post.

Even though a drastic solution, I tried it, and it works for me also.

Still having occasional connection problems, but hugely improved compared to what I have been experiencing.

Many thanks!!

I am still having problems with recording not playing completely and losing connection, error screens, etc. That’s after formatting my HD on a computer and doing a factory reset. I even tried a different HD. Still having problems. Tablo engineers have a serious problem. I submitted a ticket 3 days ago with no response. Hope they are reading these posts. I am seriously looking for other DVR options after 5 years with Tablo.

Tablo has been closed since Friday so the support ticket getting no response is expected.

The very last thing any one of us having really significant Tablo problems wants or needs to hear is the technically irrational and very dismissive message from someone who says "I’m not having that problem, so what’s all the complaining about? "

Don’t you even slightly understand that software debugging and quality isn’t about getting some users update to work? Properly designed and tested software should work for most if not all users before being released.

Dismissive comments not only do nothing to help solve the problem, but cast needless and unwarranted criticism on those who are adversely affected.

Please consider these words the next time you decide you don’t like what someone has posted. Rather than post your dismissive and critical remarks, why not stop reading negative posts if you are so easily offended?

Finally, regarding your comment that I am not getting very far with this thread, you are again, wrong!

When I started this post, both of my Tablos were effectively bricked. Thanks to helpful people, I am now mostly operational. I have lost recorded content my wife and I wanted to see, and I still have connection issues both when trying to start playback as well as fast forward, but it is 95% fixed.

Thankfully, nearly all the people on this forum are helpful, certainly very well intended, and not snarky, rude, or dismissive.

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My guess is this needs to be somewhere between “totally STINKS” and “what?”.

IMHO, both extremes are actually bad. Though I certainly understand the frustrations when it’s hard to determine why you can’t have the same good experience with something that others have.

I don’t think the whole “reformat the drive as new” approach is an answer. Simply because most of us have never ever had to do this. But maybe it raises a question of drive incompatibility (?).

I’m hoping that someone from Tablo support is able to log into yours and take a look and maybe get to the bottom of things.

For the moment I have one Tablo at 2.2.30 and one at the new 2.2.32. If there’s something in particular that you think is quite different. I might be able to confirm.

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It depends heavily upon whether you were the victim or the spectator.

Mel Brooks said it best:

" Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

When both of my Tablos are effectively bricked due to an update supposedly enhancing reliability and performance, it STINKS. It also stinks that the work-around requires losing content and wasting time and not seeing any obvious benefit from the update.

Call it whatever you would like…

And thank you for your kind offer of assistance in comparing pre-and post update firmware. This might prove useful at some point.

Was really just following the tone you set from the beginning, even set the topic to Tracking to be done with it…

This isn’t negative and dismissive, as well as unsubstantiated? you don’t actually know what’s wrong at this point, just decided due to coincidence.

Dismissing tablo as pretty bad for 5 years, but was otherwise happy with it? Was it unstable, and yet enjoyable?

From the start - you know more than tablo developers and have been “complaining” for quite some time. Suggesting it’s what you do, while so many rarely do. Complaining because you’re unhappy, or for entertainment?

Some may view your statements as “technically irrational”. Do these comments do anything to help?

Your topic never had a positive perspective, never really sounded very helpful – everything “they” did was bad. I suggested how they could make it better a long time ago, now look. Type of statements.

Lets not forget, this is a consumer product interned for an average home environment.

Haven’t you even slightly noticed the software/firmware appears to work for most - vast majority have not complained, presuming it’s working for more than not?

Right, from the choice of title and first post, you didn’t even ask for help - you just said everything was bad – setting the tone for the topic.

I waited. How many negative post you made you don’t even acknowledge, as well as dismissing tablo as a whole. But you target mine?

Loosing your recordings?

You may wish to perform a factory reset on Tablo for one of the following reasons:

  • You are selling your Tablo DVR
  • You are giving your Tablo DVR to a new owner
  • You have tried absolutely everything else to fix your Tablo (including talking to our amazing Tablo Support representatives).

WARNING:
A factory reset should not be attempted as a troubleshooting step and should only be done as a last resort by someone who knows what they’re doing.

Including Tablo Support!

it goes both ways… now I’m changing this topic to Muted

Adios

Then cutting your finger while you fall into an open sewer and die is a tragic comedy.

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I’ve had relationships like this.
Don’t knock it.

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