I have a Tablo Quad I’ve had for several years now. Within the past week, all live and recorded shows start buffering after around 20-60 seconds. I can rewind 20 seconds, then it will get past that point, only to buffer again within a minute. TV watching on Tablo is extremely frustrating.
I am streaming through a nVidia Shield device, if that makes a difference.
The Tablo is in another room, though it has an ethernet connection to the router.
Hi there @mobleyjd - Sorry you’re running into this.
Can you try removing the drive temporarily and seeing how live TV playback goes? If there’s no buffering it’s possible that there might be an issue with your drive.
The other possibility could be that your AC adapter isn’t providing a sufficient amount of power to the Tablo anymore.
If you have an AC adapter from another device with similar ratings it’s worth trying that temporarily. We also sell them on our site:
It could also be that the hard drive has started consuming more power for some reason, more power than the stock AC adapter can supply. If that’s the case then a drive replacement may be needed, or a powered USB hub, or a replacement AC adapter that can provide more power (amps) than the stock adapter (as just mentioned in another posting). Unfortunately there is no easy way to know for sure, just a process of elimination.
@TabloTV maybe consider including a higher amp AC adapter as standard with Tablo units, and/or make a more powerful adapter available on the Tablo website. Could help eliminate many of these issues.
Thanks for the tips. I removed the hard drive, and the problem still exists. However, I do think I have a better idea of the problem. The hard drive was extremely warm when I removed the cover, which required me to wait a bit before it was cool enough to touch. I’m guessing that the Tablo, being near an outside wall during a hot Arizona month, is too much to handle. I don’t have much air flow through the room I keep the Tablo in, so I’m going to try putting a fan on low in that area and see if it helps.
I have ordered a new power supply, so the Tablo will sit for a few days until that comes in. Then the power supply and fan will both be put in place.
Hopefully that will resolve the problem
Thanks so much for the assistance! I’ll update this thread to put a final resolution (hopefully) to this situation.
You may be correct with your diagnosis of your Tablo being overheated.
When I brought my original 4 tuner Tablo 7 years ago, I immediately had similar problems to what you described. The Tablo unit was sitting on top of a wooden cabinet in a poorly ventilated corner. The Tablo was extremely warm to touch (touching the bottom side could burn your hand) and I was concerned that the wooden cabinet it was sitting on could be damaged by the extreme heat.
I purchased a laptop cooling pad to place under it and all of my problems disappeared. The cooling pad plugs into the USB port on the Tablo for power or you can use an old phone charger that has a USB port to power it. The cooling pad, Tablo and harddrive have been running trouble free 24/7 for the past 7 years. The Tablo and external harddrive runs very cool, which I imagine will extend their useful lives, which is another benefit.
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Got my quad on 6/18/14 and put a cooling pad under after two months. Has been much cooler and have had no problems.
The source of the problem is confirmed as overheating. After letting the Tablo cool, then lifting one side of the Tablo to allow air underneath and lowering the temperature, the Tablo worked fine this morning. I ordered a cooling fan last night, and so will use that once it arrives. Thanks, Tablo, for the suggestion to test the hard drive, which allowed me to catch the overheating problem. I would suggest Tablo also inform users that overheating can be an issue (especially in warm environments) and that a cooling fan placed underneath can help.
The cooling fan, incidentally, is a small one described as a ‘Network Device Cooling Fan’. That’s as opposed to the laptop fans, which are much bigger than what I need.
Thanks, all, for your help.
Let us know how it works out, do you have a link for it?
I’ve replaced my socket wrench (the Tablo is above my tool chest) with the cooling fan, and have had no troubles at all. What a relief! I’d been frustrated with the issue for a while, not being sure if it was my Tablo or NVidia Shield.
The cooling fan I am using I found on Amazon, the Cooler Master NotePal Connect Stand Network Devices Cooling Solution, Metal Mesh, SickleFlow 120 Reverse Edition Fan, and USB Connectivity. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08ZV6H6MX?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details It is a good size, does plug in via the USB port on the Tablo, and lifts the whole unit off the shelf it is on. I don’t see any problems from here on out.
Thanks again, all.
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