# Electronic "freezeup" on TV sets **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 14, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703 "2010-09-14T07:28:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/1 "2010-09-14T07:28:14Z")
A couple of times in recent weeks I have found that our TV sets–both, of course, connected to converter boxes–have gotten so the controls, either on the remote or on the set itself, will not work. This includes the power switch. Nothing relieves this except for pulling the plug and replugging it, then all the controls work again. What causes this and how does pulling the power plug relieve it? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/2 "2010-09-14T10:29:35Z")
Total WAG here, but heat build up. Unplugging them gives the boxes enough of a cool down to work again. My dish receiver used to do this all the time, so I propped it up using some old wooden blocks, giving it about 2 inches of clear space across the bottom. After that it stopped freezing up. ---
**Author:** ![Fridgemagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/22d042/32.png) [@Fridgemagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fridgemagnet)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/3 "2010-09-14T11:18:46Z")
Are they both the same model? Could be overheating, like **Mr. Accident** says (my AV DVD recorder started behaving oddly and then freezing when the fan started failing), in which case you can verify this by pointing a fan at the TV and see whether it still falls over. Not a practical solution, just for diagnostic purposes. Or it could be something causing a microprocessor to crash, either a firmware bug (the popularity of C++ doesn’t help here) or susceptibility to electrical noise. Some crappy LCD Goodmans TVs in a hotel of my acquaintance were prone to freezing up like this, except that unplugging from the mains supply didn’t effect a cure. What did work was unplugging the DC power socket and then plugging it back in live. This is generally not recommended as stray electrical resonances mean that an overvoltage spike of up to 2X the nominal voltage could be produced, potentially damaging the unit, but in this instance it gave the TV a kick up the butt that caused it to reset nicely every time. “Time to market” is key in consumer electronics, which means that there is an awful lot of electronic equipment on sale that is a bit buggy due to it being rushed out. That and an increasing reliance on microcontrollers means that stuff falls over a lot these days. I’ve had TVs, PCs, DVDs, VHS video recorders, modems, mobile phones and car radios crash on me, all cured by a cold boot. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/4 "2010-09-14T11:26:34Z")
Pulling the plug is just like a hard reboot of your computer, it resets _almost_ everything. (You’ll notice that all the program info disappears after the unplug/reboot, and sometimes the box won’t even let you get into the menu. Assuming your boxen are similar to ours, which actually isn’t likely. The last time the cable guy was here he told me that they currently have five different digital/DVR boxen in use. :eek:) Every time something goes wrong with our cable [boxen](http://kol.coldfront.net/thekolwiki/index.php/Box), pulling the plug is the first thing the cable company has us do. ('Course at this point we try that before we call, not that telling them matters it’s still the first thing they ask us to do, _must stick to the company’s script_ :rolleyes:.) Our drier was showing an error code, called the number in the instruction book, “pull the plug, wait five minutes, plug it back in”. Our oven’s electronic controls weren’t working, I pulled the plug, plugged it back in and … dinner. At this point, I think it’s the twenty-first century version of smacking the side of the TV when the reception is bad. :smack: Two potential causes for the cable box freeze-up; corrupt program info messages and failed firmware updates. CMC fnord! ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/5 "2010-09-14T12:16:52Z")
Our TV does this too from time to time. I always just assumed it was a bug in whatever firmware is loaded inside it. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/6 "2010-09-15T06:20:22Z")
> [@Fridgemagnet](#): > > Are they both the same model? Could be overheating, like **Mr. Accident** says (my AV DVD recorder started behaving oddly and then freezing when the fan started failing), in which case you can verify this by pointing a fan at the TV and see whether it still falls over. Not a practical solution, just for diagnostic purposes. The sets are different models: one is a 1988 black-and-white Gold Star (in the kitchen, at the far end of the place) and the other is a Sony Wega, about 2005. And the convertor boxes are different brands too. Both arer plugged into power strips which in turn are plugged into outlets (vintage 1961). ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/7 "2010-09-15T23:42:59Z")
Another reason for freeze-up is lack of usage. I had a TV at my parents’ home I hadn’t watched for several weeks and the box didn’t work. I called and was told that they send a signal to determine usage and that the box will stop working if it’s not being used for a long period. Eventually, it’s considered “dead” unit and has to be exchanged. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2010, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/8 "2010-09-15T23:58:21Z")
tv sets and DTV over the air converter boxes can retain information when unplugged, a desirable feature for power outages and unplugging during thunderstorms. ---
**Author:** ![Keeve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f07891/32.png) [@Keeve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeve)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/9 "2010-09-16T00:27:37Z")
I have this problem, but only under specific conditions. Namely: When I go to the cable company’s menu of movies and reruns and other stuff that I might want to watch, usually I cannot find anything interesting. It seems to me that if I spend some time pondering each offering, the cable box does not freeze up. It seems that when I quickly say, “No, let’s try something else,” that rapidly increases the odds that it is going to freeze if I don’t slow down soon. My conclusion is that too much data is flowing - and too quickly - back and forth between my box and the cableco’s office. Ever notice that when you press the pause button (or any other button) it is much slower to react than your own VCR/DVR would? As much as I’d like to blame it on buggy programming, I really suspect that it is more like a real limitation of hardware and bandwidth – the system truly cannot keep up with me, and it crashes. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/10 "2010-09-16T21:56:23Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > At this point, I think it’s the twenty-first century version of smacking the side of the TV when the reception is bad. :smack: Nah, I remember occasionally having to do this type of thing with the cable box as far back as the early 80’s. ---
**Author:** ![RedSwinglineOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a9adbd/32.png) [@RedSwinglineOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedSwinglineOne)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electronic-freezeup-on-tv-sets/553703/11 "2010-09-17T20:11:21Z")
My DVR will crash occasionally, usually if I am doing too many things at once, like recording plus watching a recorder program plus changing something in the recording schedule. I don’t have to unplug mine though, I just ‘force it’ off by holding down the on/off button on the DVR itself and it reboots, just like you might on a computer.