Can you tell by looking at the cable box whether it's on the right channel when it's supposed to be recording something? If you change the channel with the TiVo remote, does the cable box change to the right channel? Does it ever change channels when you don't want it to, while you're watching? If so, does the TiVo think it's changing channels, or just the cable box?

I'm experiencing the problem right now as I type this. When I first turn on the tv the cable box says it's on a certain channel (say, channel 38). Of course, there's no video, just that same cable screen (with the program info and the "this channel should be available shortly" message). If I try to change channels with the tivo remote the channels keep changing by themselves. It doesn't stay on any one channel for more than a second or two. If I try to change to channel 37, BOTH tivo and the cable box show that the channel keeps changing. If I selected a lower channel, the channels keep changing downward (36, 35, 34, etc.). The same goes if I try to go higher. It keeps changing channels upward.

Right when I change channels I see the tivo info screen (that says what the channel and show info is). However, I notice that the info here is NOT anything close to what the cable box says. If the cable box is on 37, the tivo info may read something like channel 68. It's all messed up.

It seems like after a while of changing channels by itself, it settles on one channel (the one I see when I first turn on the tv after several hours of it being off).

Does any of this sound familiar? Is there anything I can do?

Have you actually tried to watch TV from that cable box directly to your TV, bypassing the TiVo?

Yes, I have. That's how I know the cable is working. It's something with TIVO. Yesterday, I no longer got the "channel will be available shortly" screen, I just got audio ( no picture). Today, I'm getting just a black screen. No message, no audio. Could this be the power supply?

Hi even though this is an older posting, I just wanted to reply because I recently experienced this problem and a similar (and I think related problem). I fixed it for my set-up and wanted to share the solution I found in case it helps anyone who stumbles across this post like I did.

My tivo was doing the channel countdown trick and showing a black screen with a message ("trying to access basic cable input...") when I tried to switch to channels between 20 and 99. Below are the steps I followed and now it is all better. This may not be the source of the problem for people with different set-ups from mine but it is worth a try before buying a new power supply.
My set up is a series 2 dual-tuner TIVO with Time Warner digital cable in Los Angeles zip code 90034. I think this issue arose in my case because the TIVO guided set-up anticipates that all channels between 1 and 99 will be available through the RF input (i.e. the cable coming directly from the wall) and in my area, only 2-20 are available through that input. So these channels are checked only as "cbl" channels in the channel list when they should be checked as "box".

My steps to fix:
1. Repeat guided setup through tivo. This may not be totally necessary but I find it often helps to start fresh and since it is what I did first, I have no way of knowing if it is essential or not. From TIVO menu >(select) Read Messages & Settings>Restart or Reset system>Repeat Guided Setup and then follow the on-screen instructions. You will need to know your zip code, cable provider, cable box manufacturer, and your cable channel line-up (often available on your cable provider's website or in the local paper).

2. Now try a couple different channels of live tv. Don't panic if the problems persist - this is just to check if guided set-up did the trick 'cause the next bit is tedious.

3. Go to the TIVO menu>Read New Messages & Settings>Settings>Channels>Channel List. Now check EVERYTHING except for channels that you are absolutely certain that you don't get (HBO for instance if you know it's not part of your package). It is especially important to check both the "box" and "cbl" versions of channels.

4. Go to live TV and start at the first channel in your line-up (for me it is 2). Now hit the channel up button on the TIVO remote and catalog which channels are coming in and which are black screens. Note whether they are "cbl" or "box". For me all the ones that had previously only been coming in black show up on "box" but not on "cbl".

5. After finishing your catalog, go back to the channel list and uncheck all the black screens.

For me the problem was now fixed. If you still see the black screen issue, my help stops here. If you're still seeing the channel changing issue or your tivo is recording black screens there are a few things you can try: Try resetting up your season pass or recordings for things that are getting black screens -- they may be trying to record on an HD or DT channel that you don't get or off of the "cbl" input instead of the "box". For the channel changing, try re-calibrating the TIVO remote. As a last resort, I noticed that the channel "countdown" issue did not happen when I selected the channel I wanted to change to from the TIVO on screen guide instead of entering the numbers on the remote.

Anyway, that's what worked for me and I hope this is of use to someone.