Unable to stream while recording/slow disrupted signal from 4 tuner on Roku

So last night I decided to try some things out, including streaming live TV over my Roku3. I have the 4 tuner Tablo, and it also just so happened to be recording from three of the tuners during my test. I selected a channel and after a lengthy period (more than 30 seconds) it simply reported an error on screen “Unable to stream broadcast, unknown error”. I was able to repeat this error repeatedly for every channel I tried to stream. What’s even more interesting is that I was able to stream the channels that were recording, BUT the signal was very broken up, constantly paused and more or less made viewing not really possible. The entire system and Roku are hardwired over gigabit Ethernet , so wireless is not the issue here.


It was late and I didn’t feel like messing with things further, like trying it on another Roku (I have 3) or trying it over a tablet. I am curious to know though if anyone else has had any problems with this. I need to experiment later to see if the problem is isolated to just that Roku or if it is repeatable on other Roku’s and/or tablet devices.

I would imagine that throughput on the USB to the external drive while recording 3 video streams and also trying to stream the 4th is pretty taxing.



Perhaps, but not living up to advertised claims. Need to experiment more to see what circumstances duplicate the problem. It would have been nice had the Tablo USB interface be 3.0.

@Dkevdog @Samcraig On its face - it might seem taxing. But 4 streams from a USB 2.0 is actually pretty easy for the Tablo to do. See this thread for reference: http://community.tablotv.com/discussion/comment/6437/#Comment_6437

@Tablosupport- While USB 2.0 may be able to handle the data streaming, something else in my case is not. I will perform more experiments this evening to see if I can isolate the problem. It would not, under any channel, stream to my Roku3.

@Dkevdog, were you trying to watch one of the channels that was recording?  


I have not been able to do this.  If a show is recording, I have to wait for it to finish before trying to watch it.  I cannot watch it while it is recording, via iOS, Roku, or Plex.  The last time I tried, the Tablo stopped recording the show.

@hatfield If the show has been recording for more than 30 seconds, you should be able to tune to it from the Recordings tab. 

If this isn’t working, are you getting any kind of error message? Do you have a hard drive attached?

I myself have done as Support states. I have watched shows recording , from the recorded section via Roku 3. No issue. Once ya catch up, ya catch up…


I have never seen interference in the show as it records.

As for streaming live tv while other tuners are recording…I have not done this. I am so far behind on recorded shows that I actually don’t have time for live…unless it is Football or Baseball.

@TabloSupport The show had been recording for at least 15 minutes.  It would start to play the recording from the beginning, but would stop after a few minutes.  When I went to resume playing the show, it jumped to the live feed, so I rewound to the beginning.  It again stopped.  After a few more tries, it stopped recording.  No error messages.  Yes, there is a hard drive attached.


I have had no problems playing recordings of shows that are not in progress.  I will try again.  This is the last DVR feature preventing my wife from letting me cancel Rogers…

@hatfield Is your Tablo (and Roku) using Wi-Fi or Ethernet? Keep me posted on your results.

So last night I decided to try some things out, including streaming live TV over my Roku3. I have the 4 tuner Tablo, and it also just so happened to be recording from three of the tuners during my test. I selected a channel and after a lengthy period (more than 30 seconds) it simply reported an error on screen "Unable to stream broadcast, unknown error". I was able to repeat this error repeatedly for every channel I tried to stream. What's even more interesting is that I was able to stream the channels that were recording, BUT the signal was very broken up, constantly paused and more or less made viewing not really possible. The entire system and Roku are hardwired over gigabit Ethernet , so wireless is not the issue here.

It was late and I didn’t feel like messing with things further, like trying it on another Roku (I have 3) or trying it over a tablet. I am curious to know though if anyone else has had any problems with this. I need to experiment later to see if the problem is isolated to just that Roku or if it is repeatable on other Roku’s and/or tablet devices.


I observed the same thing on my 2nd 4T (Tablo nicely replaced my first one due to an unknown hardware issue). I have a Roku 2 XS. Doesn’t seem to happen if recording 2 channels and watching a 3rd but recording 3 and watching a 4th just generates a popup “unknown error” message box. Saw this same issue on my prior 4T but that box had so many issues I ignored this. I’m guessing a software bug but it could be the system running out of horsepower? Hope not and that they acknowledge the issue and have a fix shortly. With the new season starting I have 4 simultaneous shows on several nights.

I don’t think they’ve got but 1 coder per app at most, but even if they have more I think they are pretty taxed and doing all they can to keep their nose above water right now and playing catchup on some pretty complicated issues.