Hi there.
@RFSox - Always use the reset button before unplugging. Click it once quickly. Don’t hold it down as this will do a factory reset which will cause you to lose your recordings database.
So just to clarify: hit the reset button once quickly then unplug?
Yes. Once you’ve hit the reset button your Tablo will be safe to unplug.
@TabloTV, yet another reason for my request of a reboot option in the app 
Point taken @Jestep. The problem with a software reboot is that it won’t always work. If the hardware isn’t responding for some reason (which is likely if you need a reboot) it may not recognize or follow the command.
@TabloTV, I know, but again, I am lazy 
Sure, but you must have both. Why? Because sometimes you know you need to do a soft reboot and sometimes you have no physical access to the device. Regardless, might help to know exactly what a “short push” does… does it reboot the device? What does that mean, etc? I think you’ve given us some answers here… but probably needs to be documented more (?).
@RFSox is the problem happening on a Roku? I’ve had some interesting problems with Roku audio.
A short push reboots the Tablo. It’s pretty much the same as rebooting any electronic device.
@snowcat, so it does a OS shutdown and restart. (e.g. Linux reboot command)?
@cjcox Correct! An OS shutdown and restart is what happens when you ‘tap’ the blue reset button. Pulling the power physically disables the device and it has a lot more work to do on its boot.
@jbanks25 Yes. This is on a Roku 2 XD. Which has admittedly been a little flaky. The audio sync appears to be almost imperceptibly off. In fact, it’s so minor I haven’t even bothered to do the reboot yet.
A few days ago the Tablo was not responding to any device on the network. I pressed the blue button quickly… no change in the lights. I pressed it again quickly… no change in the lights. After a third time, waiting, and not observing the lights turn off or blink… I unplugged the device.
Yes, once you hit the reset button, it should start blinking during boot up. It sounds like your Tablo was really locked up, and unplugging would have been my recommended solution as well. You definitely don’t want to hold the reset button down for 10 seconds or more and risk factory resetting it.
A few days ago the Tablo was not responding to any device on the network. I pressed the blue button quickly... no change in the lights. I pressed it again quickly... no change in the lights. After a third time, waiting, and not observing the lights turn off or blink... I unplugged the device. To be clear... after pressing the reset button... the lights should turn off and start blinking during the boot-up?
This has happened to me on my 4 tuner (2 tuner still working like a charm). No change in solid blue light–even when risking resetting and even when pulling the plug (even when pulled for 1/2 hour). Power results in solid blue light, never blinks. Ethernet port flashes green with solid orange for a few seconds then repeats after a pause two more times, then switches to never ending blinking green. Tried removing Ethernet and drive. Nothing has helped. I opened a ticket with Tablo last night.
@jkline Yikes! Doesn’t sound good. I’m looking into your ticket now.
So, every time you do a reset, it writes your database to your external hard drive?
I’m moving my drive from one Tablo to another and support told me to press the reset button to have it write my database to the HD. Then, with a factory reset on the other Tablo, it will import the database. I haven’t gotten it to work yet, and quite frankly think it’s a bunch of malarkey that it is indeed true that when you press the reset it writes the database and reboots the device.
Thoughts?
The whole reboot/reset procedure is too vague. It sounds like the most thorough method is pushing the reset button and then unplugging it. However, ‘tapping’ the blue reset button initiates both a OS shutdown and restart.
So, how long do we have after pushing the reset button to unplug it before the OS reboot kicks in.
It’s never been viewed as a good practice to unplug something in the midst of a reboot for other stuff.
There are new reboot and reset functions coming in the next update with more thorough instructions. Stay tuned.