I ran accross this article (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/do-not-time-netflix-hd-streaming-shootout/) from Engadget concerning Netflix players. TiVo did not do so well.

I will probably never use it, which brings me to a question on something else. Other then searching Utube, that beta search engine they gave us. Is that meant to replace the current search eventually, or will that be in addition to because if it's in addition to I think it's a waste of time. If it will eventually replace the current search engine then I think I see the purpose.

Maybe I missed something but I couldn't find an "HD" category, however when I ran a search it seemed to default to HD. Did I overlook something?

two things, I have both Tivo HD and the Roku netflix device. I have seen where a show (Bleak House) won't play correctly on the Tivo but it will play correctly on the Roku. Bleak House sound is good but the picture stutters and skips on Tivo Netflix. That's the only show that I've had a problem with.

I have the Tivo HD connected via ethernet cat5 and the Roku connected wireless G.

Also, I'm on the $8.99 plan where I am only supposed to stream to 1 device at a time but I have noticed that I can stream to BOTH Tivo and Roku devices simultaneously (different shows). Has anyone else seen this?

It got added today! 2 days after my last call. I filled out the survey at the end of the call saying my problem was not resolved, don't know if that helped or not.

I ran accross this article (http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/19/do-not-time-netflix-hd-streaming-shootout/) from Engadget concerning Netflix players. TiVo did not do so well.Huh? They said:
We said it was our favorite Netflix implementation when we first tried it out, and that's still true...How is that "not doing so well"? They didn't even mention all of the problems people have had using it :).
Maybe I missed something but I couldn't find an "HD" category, however when I ran a search it seemed to default to HD. Did I overlook something?With the new search, there's no way to specify a category. I can believe that it matches HD airings by default--it sorts its results in order of popularity, instead of alphabetically.

I can't see it replacing title searches and wishlist searches in its current form. After all, not everyone's TiVo is broadband connected and the new search is useless without that.

Huh? They said:
How is that "not doing so well"? They didn't even mention all of the problems people have had using it :).


I guess it's a matter of how you interpret it. However knowing how I can rush to judgement I took another look.

I suppose I may have made it seem a bit more negative then it was, however I don't feel it was a raving endorsement either.

Netflix on TiVo is a somewhat new thing -- it just launched in December 2008, and it was just the second device to handle HD streaming. We said it was our favorite Netflix implementation when we first tried it out, and that's still true -- although it doesn't look quite as good as the Samsung in our opinion, it's close, and it's the most consistently reliable at getting HD content to stream in HD. If you're like us and a TiVo is your primary living room device, this is by far the most convenient way to get your Netflix streams -- and TiVo's riff on the Netflix playback controls make it accessible for anyone in your family that's comfortable with the remote, which is a big win in terms of usability. Of course, getting a TiVo requires a fair bit of CableCARD drama, so if you're happy with your exisiting set-top we'd say you should look elsewhere, but if you've already got a TiVo or have decided to get one, you're doing just fine. We just wish TiVo or Netflix would tweak the interface to show us what content is in HD -- it's incredibly frustrating that it's not displayed.

Oh, it quite definitely has its problems. But to read the many "the Netflix app is horribly broken" threads, you'd think that hardly anyone has managed to get it to work well enough to be worthwhile, which isn't remotely the truth.

Also, as far as Netflix is concerned, TiVo is just one small cog in the plan. You can stream their stuff to PCs, the Roku player, Xboxes and 3 Blu-ray players at this point. Do the mailers mention only TiVo?

Yes, it's targeted specifically at TiVo. If you figure that Netflix sends out several 100,000 discs a day, having this ad on the tear-off constitutes it's a "ready to go, try our new service, greatest thing since sliced bread" product. :p

In defense of Netflix, it's clear that they are "good to go" but that TiVo simply isn't, at least in my experiences.

http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/4020/tivoneflixkx4.jpg

To be clear, this is not just a mailbox stuffer, it's the tearoff from the package that contains the disc. I just read something the other day where Netflix indicated that their streaming service has already made "inroads" on their physical disc delivery program, which is great for Netflix, and clearly indicates they have a winner, it just seems it's not so much a winner on the TiVo platform.

Also of note, I don't recall seeing these ads for other devices like the Roku or XBox, but I don't have either so I just may not have been paying attention. In other words, my perception is that Netflix/TiVo are really pushing this service when it's not really ready.

I'm pretty sure TiVoPony or TiVoJerry said they were working on a Netflix update to address some of the issues reported by users. I don't think they've made that update available yet, but I could be wrong.

I hope so, as I've noted before, I really like the service and want to use it, but at this point I'm afraid to do so for fear of having un-repairable problems rendering the box unusable. I was scared yesterday when I got the green screen, before I heard that THX sound I had TiVo's phone number, ready to call them.

I hope so, as I've noted before, I really like the service and want to use it, but at this point I'm afraid to do so for fear of having un-repairable problems rendering the box unusable. I was scared yesterday when I got the green screen, before I heard that THX sound I had TiVo's phone number, ready to call them.

I wouldn't use netflix just because I have so much other stuff to watch, but unfortunately when I see a statement like what you just made it just means you're buying into the paranoia that is so ramped in the TiVo Forum. If I wanted to try it I wouldn't hesitate, I would not fear that it would render my box useless. Come on.

Despite what you read about other people having problems once again I say that the only one's you hear about are the one's who complain. I know people with Series 1 TiVo's still up and running. Hardware wise I haven't had a single problem with either of my two TiVo's or my 2 D-TiVo's prior to that.

Have a litte faith in TiVo. It's not a piece of junk like Scientific Atlanta.

I wouldn't use netflix just because I have so much other stuff to watch, but unfortunately when I see a statement like what you just made it just means you're buying into the paranoia that is so ramped in the TiVo Forum. If I wanted to try it I wouldn't hesitate, I would not fear that it would render my box useless. Come on.

Despite what you read about other people having problems once again I say that the only one's you hear about are the one's who complain. I know people with Series 1 TiVo's still up and running. Hardware wise I haven't had a single problem with either of my two TiVo's or my 2 D-TiVo's prior to that.

Have a litte faith in TiVo. It's not a piece of junk like Scientific Atlanta.
Hook, it's not paranoia, yesterday I actually had the TiVo crash and boot into the green "serious error" screen after attempting to use the Netflix app.

I'm well aware of the FUD surrounding all sorts of devices and applications, and I've felt that I've kept myself above that sort of stuff. In fact, I've always had good luck with just about anything I've tried, device and/or application, so when I come across something like this it's especially notable, for me, because that sort of stuff just doesn't happen to me.

I have to tell you, seeing that screen - TiVo has detected a serious error and will attempt to fix it and may take 3 hrs - is very disconcerting. It could well be that the error was caused by something else, I have no way of knowing, all I do know is it came up right after trying to use the Netflix app. I have to assume it was related in some manner. Whether that's a one in a million occurrence or something more common with the Netflix app, I don't know, all I know is I had a problem with it and I'm very leery of trying it again right now.

As far as having faith in TiVo, I do, as I've said before, I've had my S3 since the day they came out and have not had any real problem with it, it's been "rock solid", until this Netflix app.

Hook, it's not paranoia, yesterday I actually had the TiVo crash and boot into the green "serious error" screen after attempting to use the Netflix app.

I'm well aware of the FUD surrounding all sorts of devices and applications, and I've felt that I've kept myself above that sort of stuff. In fact, I've always had good luck with just about anything I've tried, device and/or application, so when I come across something like this it's especially notable, for me, because that sort of stuff just doesn't happen to me.

I have to tell you, seeing that screen - TiVo has detected a serious error and will attempt to fix it and may take 3 hrs - is very disconcerting. It could well be that the error was caused by something else, I have no way of knowing, all I do know is it came up right after trying to use the Netflix app. I have to assume it was related in some manner. Whether that's a one in a million occurrence or something more common with the Netflix app, I don't know, all I know is I had a problem with it and I'm very leery of trying it again right now.


As far as having faith in TiVo, I do, as I've said before, I've had my S3 since the day they came out and have not had any real problem with it, it's been "rock solid", until this Netflix app.

Well, I guess I gotta take your word for it. I'm hesitant to set up an account with netflix as I feel I wouldn't use it but I have to admit your post makes me actually want to set one up. That's how confident I am in TiVo.

I'm sorry to hear about the problem you're having and if I decide to go through with this and I don't have any problems, I won't say I told you so. Just give you the results.

Good luck!

Edit: Just to be on the safe side if I do try it I will use the HD TiVo where I don't have a majority of my shows. Hey, I have faith but I ain't stupid either. :)

Well, I guess I gotta take your word for it. I'm hesitant to set up an account with netflix as I feel I wouldn't use it but I have to admit your post makes me actually want to set one up. That's how confident I am in TiVo.

I'm sorry to hear about the problem you're having and if I decide to go through with this and I don't have any problems, I won't say I told you so. Just give you the results.

Good luck!

Edit: Just to be on the safe side if I do try it I will use the HD TiVo where I don't have a majority of my shows. Hey, I have faith but I ain't stupid either. :)
I'm not trying to discourage anyone from trying it, all I'm saying is that in my little world it's not working for me. That's not to say it doesn't work just perfect for the next 99 people. The only reason I even bring it up is that I'm almost always one of those 99 people, except this time, and it's puzzling and frustrating.

Does anyone know what port this app uses? Maybe if I set up some sort of "quality of service" in my router for it that might help, although I really don't think my internet connection is the problem. I'm grasping at straws here because I really do want it to work.

Well, I guess I gotta take your word for it. I'm hesitant to set up an account with netflix as I feel I wouldn't use it but I have to admit your post makes me actually want to set one up. That's how confident I am in TiVo.I tried to word the responses for that poll that I posted at TCF (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416750) to mirror what I'd seen people write in the other Netflix threads. One of the responses was "My TiVo died while using it, beyond my ability to revive it". I included that because I'd seen posts from people who said that their TiVos had frozen up and would not reboot, requiring that they send it in for repairs (at a cost of $150). Seven people so far have selected that response (about 3% of respondent overall).

Still, most people, like myself, haven't had any problems with it that have stopped them from enjoying the service. I'd recommend that you try it, just so you know what it's about. Several CBS dramas (NCIS, all three CSI series, NUMB3RS) and a couple of NBC shows (Heroes among them) are available for streaming up to and including the current season, all in high-definition (720p24), if your connection to Netflix's server is fast enough to support it. Each new episode is online the day after the evening when it airs, which is damned handy when some mishap or uncommon conflict prevents my Season Pass from catching a show. (Recent case in point, the two-hour season premiere of Lost preempted my recording of CSI: NY and I just watched on Netflix). I don't know if this would be worth the minimum $9/month rental plan in and of itself, but it's nice, especially since I've been a Netflix sub almost since it started up (excluding a couple of brief flings with Blockbuster Online).

I tried to word the responses for that poll that I posted at TCF (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416750) to mirror what I'd seen people write in the other Netflix threads. One of the responses was "My TiVo died while using it, beyond my ability to revive it". I included that because I'd seen posts from people who said that their TiVos had frozen up and would not reboot, requiring that they send it in for repairs (at a cost of $150). Seven people so far have selected that response (about 3% of respondent overall).

Still, most people, like myself, haven't had any problems with it that have stopped them from enjoying the service. I'd recommend that you try it, just so you know what it's about. Several CBS dramas (NCIS, all three CSI series, NUMB3RS) and a couple of NBC shows (Heroes among them) are available for streaming up to and including the current season, all in high-definition (720p24), if your connection to Netflix's server is fast enough to support it. Each new episode is online the day after the evening when it airs, which is damned handy when some mishap or uncommon conflict prevents my Season Pass from catching a show. (Recent case in point, the two-hour season premiere of Lost preempted my recording of CSI: NY and I just watched on Netflix). I don't know if this would be worth the minimum $9/month rental plan in and of itself, but it's nice, especially since I've been a Netflix sub almost since it started up (excluding a couple of brief flings with Blockbuster Online).

When you say "your connection is fast enough" are you referring to on line or wireless home? I have Road Runner's fastest connection so I'm confident there, but I don't know about the home. Wife covers that one.

When you say "your connection is fast enough" are you referring to on line or wireless home? I have Road Runner's fastest connection so I'm confident there, but I don't know about the home. Wife covers that one.The small selection of HD videos are encoded at 3.8 and 2.6 Mbps. The application tests the speed of your connection with its server (distinct from the rated line speed of your service) and chooses an encoding to deliver accordingly. I've read that it gives you the encoding whose average bit rate your connection exceeds by at least 40%, so to get that 3.8 Mbps encoding, you'd need a connection speed of at least 5.32 Mbps; the 2.6 Mbps would require a 3.64 Mbps connection.

There's a brief technical overview of the Netflix encoding scheme here (http://blog.netflix.com/2008/11/encoding-for-streaming.html), on Netflix's blog.

As I said, the selection of HD stuff is very limited--they say it's somewhere between 300-400 titles out of a total of 12,000. Once you have an HD-capable device registered, you can see a list (of at least some) of them at:http://www.netflix.com/WiHD?ftr=false

I hope so, as I've noted before, I really like the service and want to use it, but at this point I'm afraid to do so for fear of having un-repairable problems rendering the box unusable. I was scared yesterday when I got the green screen, before I heard that THX sound I had TiVo's phone number, ready to call them.

My girls use the Netflix on our Tivo HD every day and we haven't had a problem.
Maybe I'm lucky but I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed.:)

My girls use the Netflix on our Tivo HD every day and we haven't had a problem.
Maybe I'm lucky but I'll continue to keep my fingers crossed.:)

You see this is what I mean. You say "maybe you're lucky' but the fact is you are in the 99 out of 100 that keenan talked about.

It's not that you're lucky, it's that a few are having a bad experience. A very few.

You see this is what I mean. You say "maybe you're lucky' but the fact is you are in the 99 out of 100 that keenan talked about.

It's not that you're lucky, it's that a few are having a bad experience. A very few.

Yes, I've had no problems with my three TiVos or three 360s using the Netflix streaming(except the initial hiccups that TiVo had their first week of Netflix streaming).
It even works fine at my girlfriends house from a TiVoHD and 360 using a wireless connection to her 768kbs DSL connection. OF course that is only fast enough for SD but it still works with no problems on that slow connection.

To be fair, I tried it out the first day it was available. Maybe they've made some tweaks in the meantime and I'll have to give it another try.

I don't usually do this but this is a question I'm going to post on two threads. Basically because I don't know which would be best since it's kind of a local matter.

I live in a Time Warner Cable area where all digital channels are copy protected, which as you guys know means I can't transfer many shows in HD and on digital.

Tonight as I was getting ready to transfer a copy of one show, I noticed that "Gangland" on History HD had the green light.

Impossible. I checked the next two recordings and they are blocked.

So how did this happen? Is it possible they have to code these channels everyday and somebody missed something?

I believe that it's possible for CCI to be injected into the stream as delivered to the cable provider; I'm sure that it's also possible for the cable provider to set things up so that every program on a channel has the same CCI or to simply replicate the CCI delivered by the provider, if any.

My understanding is that the service provider must apply a CCI flag at least as restrictive as that ordered by the network. However, (for cable networks) the service provider can apply a more restrictive CCI flag, as they wish, unless explicitly prohibited by the network.

My understanding is that the service provider must apply a CCI flag at least as restrictive as that ordered by the network. However, (for cable networks) the service provider can apply a more restrictive CCI flag, as they wish, unless explicitly prohibited by the network.

Absolutely correct. And TW's policy, at least in my neck of the woods, is to block use copy code 0x02 on any digital or non local HD channels. That's why it caught my eye.

I have a season pass for this series on my TiVo HD and when I went to transfer another show to my S3 is when I spotted this. All other episodes are blocked, but not this one.

So what I am wondering is if the policy is to use 0x02 on all these channels, then how come this one show slipped through?

Absolutely correct. And TW's policy, at least in my neck of the woods, is to block use copy code 0x02 on any digital or non local HD channels. That's why it caught my eye.

I have a season pass for this series on my TiVo HD and when I went to transfer another show to my S3 is when I spotted this. All other episodes are blocked, but not this one.

So what I am wondering is if the policy is to use 0x02 on all these channels, then how come this one show slipped through?

I see that occasionally here too...

Could have just been a transient bug in your provider's equipment. Hardly something to complain about :).

Could have just been a transient bug in your provider's equipment. Hardly something to complain about :).

I wasn't complaining. I just thought it was curious, I'd never seen it before.:) I wish they would lift the protection at least on HD channels that are available in SD, and are on the basic cable plus list.

I'm pretty sure that on my cable system, the entire SD digital simulcast is copy protected. What I find surprising is that they don't apply copy protections to the non-broadcast analogs. The ultimate goal is to get rid of the analogs, though.

I've heard that Tuning Adapters will map to the digital simulcast, even if your CableCARDs are mapped to the analogs, so be prepared to lose the ability to copy recordings of those channels.

I've heard that Tuning Adapters will map to the digital simulcast, even if your CableCARDs are mapped to the analogs, so be prepared to lose the ability to copy recordings of those channels.

Digital simulcast? Not around here.:)

I reported here that the following channels were added to my cable system's lineup about 2 months back:651 - Showtime East HD
663 - TMC East HD
719 - Biography HD
734 - USA HD
735 - ABC Family HD
740 - Bravo HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
757 - Sci Fi HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HD
793 - Speed HDI complained to Zap2It.com twice with no result and lodged a complain with TiVo phone support about 10 days ago. A few days after my phone complaint to TiVo, the following appeared the guide:651 - Showtime East HD
740 - Bravo HD
757 - Sci Fi HD
793 - Speed HD...leaving:663 - TMC East HD
719 - Biography HD
734 - USA HD
735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HD...still missing. I called again today and the service rep made some notes in the case and "escalated" it to the "lineup team" :rolleyes:. The drama continues.

To add insult to injury, there's currently a bug in TiVo's firmware which makes manual recordings of channels with no guide data impossible. I love my TiVo but I shouldn't have to wait two months or more for new channels to be added to their guide, while people with leased cable DVRs can enjoy them. TiVo costs a premium over leasing a box--it should be better in every way.

This is ridiculous and I don't blame you for being upset. I'd be furious if this happened to me.

As far as the "bug" goes, that I don't know but I certainly will investigate. No manual recordings? Even an SA 8300 can do that.

To add insult to injury, there's currently a bug in TiVo's firmware which makes manual recordings of channels with no guide data impossible. I love my TiVo but I shouldn't have to wait two months or more for new channels to be added to their guide, while people with leased cable DVRs can enjoy them. TiVo costs a premium over leasing a box--it should be better in every way.

Well, as far as the bug goes it appears that may be one of those things where for whatever reason it affects you, but I tested and I successfully did a manual recording.

Unless there is a new update I don't know about, I believe I have the most up to date software. I recorded on my S3.

As far as the "bug" goes, that I don't know but I certainly will investigate. No manual recordings? Even an SA 8300 can do that.You can do manual recordings, just not manual recordings on channels with no guide data. It will let you set it up, but when the time comes, it will simply place a note in the Recording History that it didn't make the recording because the channel had been removed from your guide :rolleyes:. When I contacted TiVoJerry (at your suggestion) and described the problems I had been having I mentioned that and he acknowledged that it was a known problem that would be fixed in a near-future firmware release.

BTW, last I heard, the SA8300HD running Navigator can't do that (make manual recordings, other than pressing REC to record the currently viewed program). I didn't think that it could do it running SARA either. It can do it running Passport Echo.

You can do manual recordings, just not manual recordings on channels with no guide data. It will let you set it up, but when the time comes, it will simply place a note in the Recording History that it didn't make the recording because the channel had been removed from your guide :rolleyes:. When I contacted TiVoJerry (at your suggestion) and described the problems I had been having I mentioned that and he acknowledged that it was a known problem that would be fixed in a near-future firmware release.

BTW, last I heard, the SA8300HD running Navigator can't do that (make manual recordings, other than pressing REC to record the currently viewed program). I didn't think that it could do it running SARA either. It can do it running Passport Echo.

It could manually record with SARA. That bug is a serious issue, hope they fix that soon.

It could manually record with SARA. That bug is a serious issue, hope they fix that soon.

I do too, Hook. I've had the History HD channel for over two weeks now with no program info. The channel banner is there OK, but, without the program guide info, I can't even manually record.

My TiVo HD spends 7 months in AZ, serviced by Cox using SA cable cards. I have periodic failures to record as well as messages saying that my cards aren't recognized and I must contact Cox. The second issue either goes away spontaneously, or with re-boot.

The other 5 months are in MI, serviced by Comcast using Motorola cards. During last summer's 5 months, the unit performed flawlessly.

Is there a technical reason why I couldn't use the Motorola cards in AZ/Cox? I pay for renting the Motorola cards in order to keep my account alive, and have them here in AZ.

Is there a technical reason why I couldn't use the Motorola cards in AZ/Cox? I pay for renting the Motorola cards in order to keep my account alive, and have them here in AZ.

Probably. I would guess that you Motorola Cards may need some tweaking from headend.

I don't like to tell people how to spend their money, but I think this is an occasion to get a second TiVo. With the TiVo with it's own set of cards you can have a tech come out and they should contact headend to fix whatever problem you are having.

You are the first person I've ever heard of that switches out cable cards. Sounds like trouble to me.

My TiVo HD has gotten slower to respond when I ask it to go to "Now Playing". Also, it often (maybe always) flashes the "Now Playing" screen, goes blank for 2-3 seconds, then returns to the screen and behaves normally.

A bit annoying, but not a fatal flaw ... unless it's telling me there's bad news ahead & I should be doing something.

I think I'm near the limit of the hard drive's capacity based on the threats of deletions I often get when scheduling a new recording. I have a 500 GB eSAT WD external HD ordered.

Any advice?

Thanks Hook.

Is "tweaking from headend" the same as the pairing that's done initially?

A single TiVo unit fits my needs better than two. I record programs in AZ that I watch with my family in MI.

Thanks Hook.

Is "tweaking from headend" the same as the pairing that's done initially?

A single TiVo unit fits my needs better than two. I record programs in AZ that I watch with my family in MI.

Not necessarily and it may be hard to get them to do it to be honest.

It's been my experience that unless you get a really sharp tech and cable card problems happen techs will blame your TiVo. In some cases this may be true but you really have to look at what's happening from headend. I had a problem with sound on a couple of channels and the techs said it was a TiVo problem, but I managed to get hold of a very good person in headend at Time Warner Cable in my area and she helps me now whenever I have a cable card issue, and they do come up from time to time. I'm using SA cards.

So that's your challenge. Finding out how to get to headend. As far as your other issue, TiVo is basically a computer and if you are filled up with data then it will probably run slower. If you have a wireless system or a laptop and usb I would transfer some shows to your computer and see if that doesn't help your speed. Caution, HD takes up a great deal of disk space so if you're going to do this make sure you have a rather large hard drive. My soul purpose in purchasing my Mac was for the 1TB hard drive so I could transfer TiVo files to it.

Not necessarily and it may be hard to get them to do it to be honest.

It's been my experience that unless you get a really sharp tech and cable card problems happen techs will blame your TiVo. In some cases this may be true but you really have to look at what's happening from headend. I had a problem with sound on a couple of channels and the techs said it was a TiVo problem, but I managed to get hold of a very good person in headend at Time Warner Cable in my area and she helps me now whenever I have a cable card issue, and they do come up from time to time. I'm using SA cards.

So that's your challenge. Finding out how to get to headend. As far as your other issue, TiVo is basically a computer and if you are filled up with data then it will probably run slower. If you have a wireless system or a laptop and usb I would transfer some shows to your computer and see if that doesn't help your speed. Caution, HD takes up a great deal of disk space so if you're going to do this make sure you have a rather large hard drive. My soul purpose in purchasing my Mac was for the 1TB hard drive so I could transfer TiVo files to it.

Thanks. I have the info. I need for that issue.

Next issue: Yesterday, for the first time, transferred some programs to my desktop via my wireless LAN. It took more than 2 hours to transfer a 2 hour HD program. I had all other programs shut down. Processor on my PC was running at ~ 12%. LAN capability 100 Mbs, but running at 10. PC hard drive is WD SATA 7200 RPM.

Is this transfer speed to be expected, or is there something I can do to speed it up?

Thanks. I have the info. I need for that issue.

Next issue: Yesterday, for the first time, transferred some programs to my desktop via my wireless LAN. It took more than 2 hours to transfer a 2 hour HD program. I had all other programs shut down. Processor on my PC was running at ~ 12%. LAN capability 100 Mbs, but running at 10. PC hard drive is WD SATA 7200 RPM.

Is this transfer speed to be expected, or is there something I can do to speed it up?

I hate to be the bearer of extremely good news but do you know how many of us would like to see that kind of transfer time on a two hour show?:cool:

I'd say on average it takes me about 4 hours to transfer a 2 hour show. I usually do my transfers at night when I know nobody will use the microwave. I've tried all the tricks, putting the TiVo's on non used channels, etc. I think you got exceptional time on your transfer.

By the way there are other guys on this thread. I just happen to be at my computer when you post.

I hate to be the bearer of extremely good news but do you know how many of us would like to see that kind of transfer time on a two hour show?:cool:

I'd say on average it takes me about 4 hours to transfer a 2 hour show. I usually do my transfers at night when I know nobody will use the microwave. I've tried all the tricks, putting the TiVo's on non used channels, etc. I think you got exceptional time on your transfer.

By the way there are other guys on this thread. I just happen to be at my computer when you post.

Huh. Ah well, having it work while I sleep sounds like the plan.

Yesterday, for the first time, transferred some programs to my desktop via my wireless LAN. It took more than 2 hours to transfer a 2 hour HD program. I had all other programs shut down. Processor on my PC was running at ~ 12%. LAN capability 100 Mbs, but running at 10. PC hard drive is WD SATA 7200 RPM.

Is this transfer speed to be expected, or is there something I can do to speed it up?Whether or not that was an acceptable time depends. Was this is 2 hour HD program or a 2 hour SD one? How big was the file?

Whether or not that was an acceptable time depends. Was this is 2 hour HD program or a 2 hour SD one? How big was the file?

Mike, he said in his post it was HD. To record any HD show in 2 hours that is two hours long is excellent in my book.

Mike, he said in his post it was HD. To record any HD show in 2 hours that is two hours long is excellent in my book.Ah--sorry, I missed that. Still it depends--it might be 9 Mbps HD from Universal HD or 17 Mbps from ABC. Either would be decent, but the 17 Mbps over a wireless G link would be outstanding :).

Need some help, on the S3 there was a page you could view that would show the info for the 2 channels you were tuned to and it gave information about error counts, frequency, etc, and I believe PIDs. I can't seem to find it in the menu system anymore, is it still there?

Need some help, on the S3 there was a page you could view that would show the info for the 2 channels you were tuned to and it gave information about error counts, frequency, etc, and I believe PIDs. I can't seem to find it in the menu system anymore, is it still there?

I think it's in the System Diagnostics. If not it's somewhere in the Cable Card Menu.

In an effort to help you I hit went to Settings, Messages and Settings, System Diagnostics - and my S3 hung.:(

Reboot time.

Edit: via my TiVo HD (since the S3 is still rebooting) Settings/Messages & Settings/DVR Diagnostics. It's all there. :)

I think it's in the System Diagnostics. If not it's somewhere in the Cable Card Menu.

In an effort to help you I hit went to Settings, Messages and Settings, System Diagnostics - and my S3 hung.:(

Reboot time.

Edit: via my TiVo HD (since the S3 is still rebooting) Settings/Messages & Settings/DVR Diagnostics. It's all there. :)

Okay, thanks, I'll give it a shot. It wasn't always there was it? Thought it was someplace else before...

Sorry for causing the reboot. :o

Okay, thanks, I'll give it a shot. It wasn't always there was it? Thought it was someplace else before...

Sorry for causing the reboot. :o

lol....it's ok stuff happens.

I think it's been there for at least several upgrades. I still recall it as System Diagnostics but it looks like it's DVR Diagnostics now.

You can also access it through the cable card menu, this way is shorter.

lol....it's ok stuff happens.

I think it's been there for at least several upgrades. I still recall it as System Diagnostics but it looks like it's DVR Diagnostics now.

You can also access it through the cable card menu, this way is shorter.

Yes, my Comcast system recently switched Expanded Basic channels to digital and they are now clear-QAM making them available not only on the TiVo, but also on the HDHomeRun I use on the computer which is a clear-QAM only device. Having that info should make mapping the channels on the HDHR a little easier.

I've got a pretty good deal, for all the Standard Cable channels, plus local HD, plus some HD cablenets like ESPN/ESPN2/DHDT/Versus and the local RSN-HD that they have never encrypted via the CC, I pay $18 a month. :p:D

If my kids didn't watch the Disney Channel so much, I would go down to basic cable. Oh well.

If my kids didn't watch the Disney Channel so much, I would go down to basic cable. Oh well.

Disney Channel is in Expanded here, but because all those are in the clear currently I can get receive it with just Limited Basic. Depending on where your area is with ADS, you might try dropping to Limited and see if you still get the channel, if it's in Expanded as well of course. It's worth saving the $25 or so per month IMO.

Huh. Ah well, having it work while I sleep sounds like the plan.

Another forum suggests that the slowness is due to encryption process that occurs in the TiVo box. Makes sense because I transferred about 4 hrs of HD in *.TiVo file format from my PC to a USB external drive in about 30 minutes.

Another forum suggests that the slowness is due to encryption process that occurs in the TiVo box. Makes sense because I transferred about 4 hrs of HD in *.TiVo file format from my PC to a USB external drive in about 30 minutes.It's not the encryption.

Recordings are stored on the TiVo's hard drive as transport streams in a proprietary format. When you download a recording from the TiVo with a web browser (or TiVo Desktop), the TiVo muxes the recorded streams stored on the hard drive into a single MPG file that can be played on a PC or Mac. The TiVo does this "on the fly" with its relatively slow DVR CPU, and the result is about 10-15Mbps download throughput.

When transferring recordings between two Series3 DVRs, throughput is about 2-3x as fast, because recorded files are transferred just as they are stored on the hard drive.

It's not the encryption.

Recordings are stored on the TiVo's hard drive as transport streams in a proprietary format. When you download a recording from the TiVo with a web browser (or TiVo Desktop), the TiVo muxes the recorded streams stored on the hard drive into a single MPG file that can be played on a PC or Mac. The TiVo does this "on the fly" with its relatively slow DVR CPU, and the result is about 10-15Mbps download throughput.

When transferring recordings between two Series3 DVRs, throughput is about 2-3x as fast, because recorded files are transferred just as they are stored on the hard drive.

That sounds like good news. Is it correct:
1) That the files on my PC that have .TiVo extensions are actually MPG files?
2) If so, it seems that re-naming them, changing only the extension to .MPG would allowing burning them to DVDs as MPG files. Correct?

That sounds like good news. Is it correct:
1) That the files on my PC that have .TiVo extensions are actually MPG files?
2) If so, it seems that re-naming them, changing only the extension to .MPG would allowing burning them to DVDs as MPG files. Correct?I'm not sure what the encoding of the data in the files is (almost certainly MPEG-2, since everything TiVo records is in MPEG-2), but .TiVo is a container format which includes all of the ancillary information (series title, episode title, program description, etc) that TiVo stores for the file. Simply renaming it won't make it intelligible. There are tools, both paid and free, which can be used for this purpose. (One of the paid ones has an ability to automatically scan for ads and remove them while converting). See the TiVo Home Media Features & TiVoToGo (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=35) forum at TiVo Community Forums for more advice on this topic than you can probably use :).

I reported here that the following channels were added to my cable system's lineup about 2 months back:651 - Showtime East HD
663 - TMC East HD
719 - Biography HD
734 - USA HD
735 - ABC Family HD
740 - Bravo HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
757 - Sci Fi HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HD
793 - Speed HDI complained to Zap2It.com twice with no result and lodged a complain with TiVo phone support about 10 days ago. A few days after my phone complaint to TiVo, the following appeared the guide:651 - Showtime East HD
740 - Bravo HD
757 - Sci Fi HD
793 - Speed HD...leaving:663 - TMC East HD
719 - Biography HD
734 - USA HD
735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HD...still missing. I called again today and the service rep made some notes in the case and "escalated" it to the "lineup team" :rolleyes:. The drama continues.An update: I called TiVo for a third time on Tuesday. The CSR wrote up a fresh problem report ticket. Yesterday, I got a notice on TiVo that they'd added something called "HD Showcase On Demand" to the lineup (a VOD channel which TiVo cannot tune). I thought that maybe they'd added more and not mentioned it, so I first checked Zap2It and found that TMC HD, Biography HD and USA HD had been added there. Strangely, neither has shown up in TiVo's guide, and I've tried forcing several connections since then. EDIT: While I was writing this, I did one more connection and the three new channels showed up. Woot (as the kids say :))! Only five more to go:735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HDUSA and TMC were two of the ones that I was looking forward to--give me FX HD and I won't care about the rest.

The TiVo CSR whom I talked to told me that they use an external contractor for lineup updates. If that's true, then they need to rethink that strategy. It was never this hard in the past--I'd fill out the web form and a few days later the channels would show up. This has been a ridiculously long, frustrating process.

That sounds like good news. Is it correct:
1) That the files on my PC that have .TiVo extensions are actually MPG files?
2) If so, it seems that re-naming them, changing only the extension to .MPG would allowing burning them to DVDs as MPG files. Correct?The FAQ in the TivoHD (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11126048#post11126048) thread has more information on using .TiVo files and saving them as MPGs.

Specifically, see FAQs #18 and #19 under Using TiVo.

Let me make this simple: No, you can't change the extension and make a DVD.:)

The FAQ in the TivoHD (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11126048#post11126048) thread has more information on using .TiVo files and saving them as MPGs.

Specifically, see FAQs #18 and #19 under Using TiVo.Huh. I've never seen that FAQ before. Nice of you to write it :). Minor nit: it's always better for FAQs to be sequentially numbered, whether broken into multiple sections or not--it avoids confusion.

Huh. I've never seen that FAQ before. Nice of you to write it :). Minor nit: it's always better for FAQs to be sequentially numbered, whether broken into multiple sections or not--it avoids confusion.I tried to cater to two different groups: (a) those considering a TiVo and (b) those that have a TiVo. The former group can become easily overwhelmed. A consequence of the separate sections is redundant information.

I tried to cater to two different groups: (a) those considering a TiVo and (b) those that have a TiVo. The former group can become easily overwhelmed. A consequence of the separate sections is redundant information.You can always place a little TOC in your heading:Section|FAQs
I. General & Setup|01 thru 50
II. Using TiVo|51 thru 73
III. TiVo Tips|74 thru 78Just a suggestion. If you number a FAQ sequentially, other people discussing it can say just "see FAQ #11" without others asking "which FAQ #11"? Again, it's a minor nit--it was very nice of you to write such a comprehensive FAQ, filled with illustrations. I salute you :).

...
The TiVo CSR whom I talked to told me that they use an external contractor for lineup updates. If that's true, then they need to rethink that strategy. It was never this hard in the past--I'd fill out the web form and a few days later the channels would show up. This has been a ridiculously long, frustrating process.

I finally just gave up and used a nearby zip code that I found had the added channels I needed. Zaptoit still doesn't have them all for my area, even two months later, so there's little point in my correcting my zip code.

The TiVo CSR whom I talked to told me that they use an external contractor for lineup updates. If that's true, then they need to rethink that strategy. It was never this hard in the past--I'd fill out the web form and a few days later the channels would show up. This has been a ridiculously long, frustrating process.

Mike, I'm very surprised you didn't know this. For many, many years it's been Tribune Media (www.zap2it.com) that does the terrible job on their line up.

Mike, I'm very surprised you didn't know this. For many, many years it's been Tribune Media (www.zap2it.com) that does the terrible job on their line up.I've long known that they got their guide data from Tribune media (and there's absolutely no way that TiVo itself could economically produce guide data for the hundreds of systems that their product is used on). My impression from the woman that I spoke to is that it was an intermediate contractor that they give these requests to who verify them and pass it on to Tribune. Otherwise they could just tell you on their website how to submit lineup change information directly to Tribune.

...The TiVo CSR whom I talked to told me that they use an external contractor for lineup updates. If that's true, then they need to rethink that strategy. It was never this hard in the past--I'd fill out the web form and a few days later the channels would show up. This has been a ridiculously long, frustrating process.

I've been having a similar problem, Michael, though not to the extent you have. Mediacom added 3 HD channels in mid-January. After repeated e-mails to Tribune Media Services (the guide info provider for TiVo), I finally have program info for two of them (SciFi HD and History HD), but still not the third (CNN HD). SciFi showed up within 10 days; History within 15 days. I haven't called TiVo CS yet, since I really don't care about CNN HD program info, but it's still irritating.

I know that the S3 vs HD (or HD XL) question has been debated to death, but I've searched and haven't found any specific info on this one question...

The HD/XL have a different Samsung tuner chip that's (according to Samsung press releases) supposed to be better than the one in the S3. My question is... has anyone noticed or reported that the HD/XL are able to tune "marginal" signals better than the S3??

I ask because I'm tempted to go with the S3 for the OLED display, but don't want to do that if the S3 is likely to have problems tuning OTA channels (I'm in central Houston, and probably fairly vulnerable to multipath problems).

Much thanks.
Jeff

I've had my S3 for nearly two and a half years and have loved it. It its early days, I had to use an OTA antenna to get the HD signals of 3 of our OKC network affiliates. With the exception of one station with known transmission problems, the OTA tuner in my S3 performed flawlessly.

I can't compare an S3 to an HD but I can compare an S3 to a Samsung LCD HDTV. The ATSC (over the air HDTV) tuner in the Samsung TV is far superior to the ones in the S3. My local (35 miles) PBS station is running low power digital until the switch on June 12. I can watch the channel using the Samsung tuner. 90% of the time there is no signal using the S3 tuner.

I can't compare an S3 to an HD but I can compare an S3 to a Samsung LCD HDTV. The ATSC (over the air HDTV) tuner in the Samsung TV is far superior to the ones in the S3. My local (35 miles) PBS station is running low power digital until the switch on June 12. I can watch the channel using the Samsung tuner. 90% of the time there is no signal using the S3 tuner.

Well, that solves that. Don't buy the S3 or TiVo HD, buy a Samsung.:rolleyes:

And that's based on one persons observation on one channel that he admits has a low signal. Double that.:rolleyes::rolleyes:

I can't compare an S3 to an HD but I can compare an S3 to a Samsung LCD HDTV. The ATSC (over the air HDTV) tuner in the Samsung TV is far superior to the ones in the S3. My local (35 miles) PBS station is running low power digital until the switch on June 12. I can watch the channel using the Samsung tuner. 90% of the time there is no signal using the S3 tuner.

I noticed the same difference years ago between a single tuner D* reciever and the D* TiVo. It's due to the internal splitter used to feed the dual tuners. Put a 2x1 splitter before the Samsung and you'll have the same reduction in signal level.

I know that the S3 vs HD (or HD XL) question has been debated to death, but I've searched and haven't found any specific info on this one question...

The HD/XL have a different Samsung tuner chip that's (according to Samsung press releases) supposed to be better than the one in the S3. My question is... has anyone noticed or reported that the HD/XL are able to tune "marginal" signals better than the S3??Where did you read that?

The TivoHD/XL doesn't use a Samsung tuner. It uses 2x MicroTune MT2131 tuners and 2x AMD Theater 314 QAM/VSB demodulators. Most comparisons I've read rate reception on the TivoHD and Series3 as comparable, with the TivoHD only slightly better.

If you've used the DTVPal (TR40) or DTVPal DVR, those products offer comparable reception performance to the TivoHD. In fact, they use the same tuner and a variant of the same demodulator.

Where did you read that?

The TivoHD/XL doesn't use a Samsung tuner. It uses 2x MicroTune MT2131 tuners and 2x AMD Theater 314 QAM/VSB demodulators.

I can't vouch for it's accuracy, but I was referring to this info (http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2007/07/nothing-too-lite-about-new-299-tivo-series-3-unit.ars) (which seems to have been repeated a number of places) that listed "old generation" and "new generation" Samsung tuner chips used the S3 and the HD, respectively.

Also Samsung's claims regarding the performance of the "new generation" chips quoted here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=358862&pp=30&page=5)...

"Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., a leader in advanced semiconductor technology, today announced an improved digital TV receiver chip, the S5H1411, that boasts a 30 percent higher reception success rate than the company’s previous generation digital TV receiver chip released in 2005, the S5H1409."

I realize now that these posts were based on pre-production or early-production info for the HD... so maybe the actual tuners used in the HD are different that what was reported in these posts??

Regardless of the tuner-chip manufacturer, if the reception on the HD is "slightly better" than the S3, then that's the tradeoff I'm thinking about:
...S3 = OLED display
...HD/XL = slightly better tuner (but maybe not enough to be a deciding factor)?

I realize now that these posts were based on pre-production or early-production info for the HD... so maybe the actual tuners used in the HD are different that what was reported in these posts??That information was speculation based on some leaked specs. The final TivoHD specifications are linked in my signature.

Regardless of the tuner-chip manufacturer, if the reception on the HD is "slightly better" than the S3, then that's the tradeoff I'm thinking about:
...S3 = OLED display
...HD/XL = slightly better tuner (but maybe not enough to be a deciding factor)?The TivoHD fully supports M-CARDs, eliminating the need for a second CableCard to support both tuners with digital cable. The Series3 always requires two CableCards to support both tuners with digital cable.

The TivoHD -- with its newer decoder -- is also able to play some Netflix videos that don't currently do not work on the Series3. Those videos may or may not play on the Series3 with a future update.

The TiVo Series3 has the advantage of the OLED front display, as well as faster transfers between TiVos in different rooms. It also includes the premium Tivo GLO remote, which is standard on the TivoHD XL but a $50 option on the TivoHD.

An update: I called TiVo for a third time on Tuesday. The CSR wrote up a fresh problem report ticket. Yesterday, I got a notice on TiVo that they'd added something called "HD Showcase On Demand" to the lineup (a VOD channel which TiVo cannot tune). I thought that maybe they'd added more and not mentioned it, so I first checked Zap2It and found that TMC HD, Biography HD and USA HD had been added there. Strangely, neither has shown up in TiVo's guide, and I've tried forcing several connections since then. EDIT: While I was writing this, I did one more connection and the three new channels showed up. Woot (as the kids say :))! Only five more to go:735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HDUSA and TMC were two of the ones that I was looking forward to--give me FX HD and I won't care about the rest.I posted that ten days ago and those five channels are still missing. Called today (fourth call) and the CSR "escalated" my case to the highest priority and suggested that I cut-and-paste the lineup from TWC's San Diego web site into a letter and send it to their lineup team (an address at TiVo.com). I did this, with a subject line citing the case number--who knows if it'll actually help.

I told her that I knew it wasn't her fault, but that I'd called four times now about a lineup change that happened two months back without getting full resolution and that I considered that to be pretty god-awful service. She added a complimentary extra month of service. I feel so much better :rolleyes:.

I posted that ten days ago and those five channels are still missing. Called today (fourth call) and the CSR "escalated" my case to the highest priority and suggested that I cut-and-paste the lineup from TWC's San Diego web site into a letter and send it to their lineup team (an address at TiVo.com). I did this, with a subject line citing the case number--who knows if it'll actually help.

I told her that I knew it wasn't her fault, but that I'd called four times now about a lineup change that happened two months back without getting full resolution and that I considered that to be pretty god-awful service. She added a complimentary extra month of service. I feel so much better :rolleyes:.

With this rotten service they are providing you should get lifetime.

You've got much more patience then I do. It gets to a point where it just gets plain ridiculous.

Interesting that lineup@tivo.com still works. I kind of thought it would. But why are YOU having to cut and paste. This is just outrageous.

We are slated in our area to get some additional HD channels around mid March, and now I'm having trouble just getting TW to send me the new channels they have added. I made a second call to my headend contact today. She tried to help me on Thursday when I called, told me she had it working on their TiVo at TW (nice to know they have one). But nothing for me.

What's weird about this is on the DVR diagnostics on my S3 it acknowledges getting a signal, but my TiVoHD doesn't get anything. In both cases I'm still not getting the channel. It's a channel called "Chiller" and I really don't care about it but I'm starting to get p.o.'d because every time they add a channel I seem to have to make a phone call. And I know of other TiVo owners in my area who arn't receiving it either.

I'm hoping my contact at head end just isn't in today. It's not like her to ignore me completely. Hopefully she will give me a call soon.

Between having to deal with TW and TiVo and their lack of customer service this is starting to get frustrating. I'm frustrated just hearing about your situation, Michael.

Keep us updated. How long has this been going on now, 2 months?

Keep us updated. How long has this been going on now, 2 months?They added the channels in late December, a couple of days before Christmas. I started to complain about the lineup problem about mid-January--my first post about it here was this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15633912#post15633912), on January 23rd, a week after I'd sent my first request for a lineup update to Zap2It's support address.

In the past, back when they had the web form, it never took more than 3 or 4 business days to get a lineup change made. The process is obviously broken.

They added the channels in late December, a couple of days before Christmas. I started to complain about the lineup problem about mid-January--my first post about it here was this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=15633912#post15633912), on January 23rd, a week after I'd sent my first request for a lineup update to Zap2It's support address.

In the past, back when they had the web form, it never took more than 3 or 4 business days to get a lineup change made. The process is obviously broken.

It seems longer then that to me. I can only imagine how long it seems to you.

....Interesting that lineup@tivo.com still works....

Define "works" Hook. I've been e-mailing both Tribune and TiVo about missing guide data for over a month on CNN HD and nothing.

Define "works" Hook. I've been e-mailing both Tribune and TiVo about missing guide data for over a month on CNN HD and nothing.

I guess what I meant that the address was still valid. As to whether it "works" or not, I dunno.:)

I guess what I meant that the address was still valid. As to whether it "works" or not, I dunno.:)

Yeah, it doesn't bounce. But who knows if anyone's reading it or following up. It's really a shame because TiVo's CS used to be fairly responsive. I don't see that as much anymore.

My TiVo listings guide still works fine here (https://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/tvlistings.do).

My TiVo listings guide still works fine here (https://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/tvlistings.do).

Huh?

TiVo posted this today:



Folks, as you know there were hundreds of antenna stations that stuck with the original 2/17 cutover date. Tribune proactively contacted them and requested their frequency data but a significant portion of the stations did not bother to reply. Tribune has sent us updates as soon as they have been able to confirm the correct information.

We've been told that a large antenna data update is coming that should be available for you to download starting Wednesday night. Hopefully this will resolve the majority of issues being reported in this thread.

If your problem has not been resolved by Thursday, 2/26, I suggest you try the following steps before reporting a lineup issue:
1> Make a service connection and allow it to complete successfully
2> Restart your DVR

If your problem is resolved, you may still have an entry in the channel list that corresponds to the old frequency. To remove it from your list entirely, delete the scanned channels .

If your problem persists, and you've already reported it to customer support, we ask for you to be patient a little longer while the data is confirmed with the provider. If it's not moving quickly enough, you may wish to contact the station to make sure they're communicating with Tribune regarding the update request.

**[B]One important note: I've seen a situation where you can tune to a channel and see guide data but no video for a different reason.
When tuned to the affected channel, the diagnostic screen shows good signal strength AND signal lock, but NO PROGRAM LOCK, it's possible that the station is not meeting the ATSC specification, for example, the transportsStreamId in the TVCT does not match the transportStreamId in the PAT. Since the stations have been changing their configurations during the transition, it's more possible that they've made a mistake.

TiVo posted this today:


hmmm... how do you delete scanned channels?

hmmm... how do you delete scanned channels?When you run a channel scan, it gives you the option to delete all previously found channels.

When you run a channel scan, it gives you the option to delete all previously found channels.

In guided set up, which is what I believe you mean when you say "channel scan" there is no such option. I'm running it right now.

Now you might be talking about clearing the season pass list and to do list. I don't even want to go there.

In guided set up, which is what I believe you mean when you say "channel scan" there is no such option. I'm running it right now.

Now you might be talking about clearing the season pass list and to do list. I don't even want to go there.
No -- guided setup is unnecessary. You would use Settings -> Channels -> Channel Scan, and this only necessary to clear out old stations that you added with an earlier channel scan.

Note TiVoJerry said the large antenna data update would be available starting Wednesday night (tomorrow night, not today).

He might have been talking about TiVo Central->Messages & Settings->Settings->Channels->Channel Scan, which you can't do if you did Guided Setup for "cable only" and you're using CableCARD(s) and/or a Tuning Adapter. In that case, the set of channels that you get is what's indicated in the maps obtained from those devices, period. If you did GS for "cable plus antenna" or "antenna only" (or whatever), it can do a channel scan of the antenna; I'm not sure about "cable only" without CableCARD(s) or Tuning Adapter.

He might have been talking about TiVo Central->Messages & Settings->Settings->Channels->Channel Scan, which you can't do if you did Guided Setup for "cable only" and you're using CableCARD(s) and/or a Tuning Adapter. In that case, the set of channels that you get is what's indicated in the maps obtained from those devices, period. If you did GS for "cable plus antenna" or "antenna only" (or whatever), it can do a channel scan of the antenna; I'm not sure about "cable only" without CableCARD(s) or Tuning Adapter.

Yeah, that's what he's talking about and I have cable only so I can't do it. "Not Available with Current Set Up."

When you run a channel scan, it gives you the option to delete all previously found channels.

Ah ha.... Done... Thanks...

Tribune has moved two of our locals to their post transition frequencies which is wrong... actually one of the frequencies is also wrong... Oh well... Hopefully the big channel download TiVoJerry spoke about will fix it.

Called TiVo to report a lineup change. It took me through a looping process. No matter what I selected I came back to the same message with the same choices. Finally I leaned on "0'' and got a rep.

Now not only can we not email them, we can't call them.:rolleyes:

They have this long message about phone numbers changing that you have to sit through. If you call just hit 0 to bypass all this.

An update: I called TiVo for a third time on Tuesday. The CSR wrote up a fresh problem report ticket. Yesterday, I got a notice on TiVo that they'd added something called "HD Showcase On Demand" to the lineup (a VOD channel which TiVo cannot tune). I thought that maybe they'd added more and not mentioned it, so I first checked Zap2It and found that TMC HD, Biography HD and USA HD had been added there. Strangely, neither has shown up in TiVo's guide, and I've tried forcing several connections since then. EDIT: While I was writing this, I did one more connection and the three new channels showed up. Woot (as the kids say :))! Only five more to go:735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HDUSA and TMC were two of the ones that I was looking forward to--give me FX HD and I won't care about the rest.I posted that ten days ago and those five channels are still missing. Called today (fourth call) and the CSR "escalated" my case to the highest priority and suggested that I cut-and-paste the lineup from TWC's San Diego web site into a letter and send it to their lineup team (an address at TiVo.com). I did this, with a subject line citing the case number--who knows if it'll actually help.

I told her that I knew it wasn't her fault, but that I'd called four times now about a lineup change that happened two months back without getting full resolution and that I considered that to be pretty god-awful service. She added a complimentary extra month of service. I feel so much better :rolleyes:.Last Thursday they added three of the final missing five--of course, none of those three was FX HD, the only one that I gave a damn about :mad:. Made a fifth call today about the last two, 752 FX HD and 789 MLB HD. While I was on the phone with the guy, he checked 3 online TV guides, including Zap2It and TV Guide, and didn't find them; I directed him to check TWC's site for my zipcode and he found them there (where they've been listed since they were added, two months ago).

Wanna bet that they only add MLB HD, forcing me to call again :rolleyes:?

To add huge insult to injury, my TiVo is bricked. There's some kind of software problem that presents classical signs of a memory leak. Within a few minutes of bootstrap, everything grinds to a near halt: the red dot on the front panel which blinks to acknowledge remote button presses is delayed by seconds and even the background animations on full screen dialogs become jerky (spotlights scanning, a row of stage footlights illuminating). I thought that it might have something to do with the tuning adapter, but its presence actually delays manifestation of the problem. After reboot, there's a few minutes where the tuners are dead while it loads information from the TA; things don't start slowing down until after that's done, which suggests to me that the problem lies in the buffering of the tuners.

Life in the big city :rolleyes:.

To add huge insult to injury, my TiVo is bricked. There's some kind of software problem that presents classical signs of a memory leak. Within a few minutes of bootstrap, everything grinds to a near halt: the red dot on the front panel which blinks to acknowledge remote button presses is delayed by seconds and even the background animations on full screen dialogs become jerky (spotlights scanning, a row of stage footlights illuminating). I thought that it might have something to do with the tuning adapter, but its presence actually delays manifestation of the problem. After reboot, there's a few minutes where the tuners are dead while it loads information from the TA; things don't start slowing down until after that's done, which suggests to me that the problem lies in the buffering of the tuners.

Life in the big city :rolleyes:.

For a few seconds I thought I was in the Crackberry forum. "Bricked" and "memory leak" are talked quite a bit in there.

Geeze Mike, I don't know what to say. Nine times out of 10 it's a hard drive that causes problems, I don't have to tell you that but if you say it's some type of memory issue it must be. Hope you're able to work it out.

For a few seconds I thought I was in the Crackberry forum. "Bricked" and "memory leak" are talked quite a bit in there.

Geeze Mike, I don't know what to say. Nine times out of 10 it's a hard drive that causes problems, I don't have to tell you that but if you say it's some type of memory issue it must be. Hope you're able to work it out.That was suggested to me a day or two ago; I did a kickstart 54 and ran the HDD S.M.A.R.T. tests (takes about 4 hours)--everything passed.

I've spent all day farting around with this, disconnecting everything from the TiVo (coax, Ethernet, Tuning Adapter, CableCARDs) and reconnecting it all, with many, many reboots. I've finally determined that it seems to be related to tuning HD channels, or rather aggregate bit rate of the channels being tuned. With everything connected, I can tune any two analog or SD digital channels, switched broadcast or not, and the system works fine, with all menus running fast and responsive. I can tune some of the lower bit rate HD channels in combination with a standard def channel and the system runs okay for live TV watching, with some of the menus slowed. If I tune any two HD channels or one of the higher bit rate channels along with anything else, the system rapidly bogs down and eventually reboots itself. (To recover, I have to disconnect the coax, tune to a couple of SD channels and reconnect it).

I was thinking that it was a memory leak problem, but my current strongest suspicion is a power problem. I have my TiVo connected to a Tripplite UPS that should deliver a clean 120V, but I notice that its input voltage display is hovering around 110-112V. Could be that its having an effect on processor speed that wasn't important until this last release (11b), or it could be that voltage hasn't been low until recently.

I'm not sure what's wrong, but it's gratifying that I can at least use the thing to view my unwatched recordings. Until I figure out what's wrong, I can cancel my HD recordings of high rate channels and replace them with standard def recordings (or watch the next day by some other means, like streaming Netflix for CBS dramas). Not optimal, but not dead in the water, either.

EDIT: It turned out to be an HDD failure, as diagnosed by someone at TiVo from the logs on my unit and as predicted by you, hook. So much for the effectiveness of the S.M.A.R.T. tests, which reported nothing in two runs through. The time that it takes to deal with errors and retries on a failing drive (some of it at interrupt service priority) is probably what's preventing it from being able to handle the higher rate broadcast streams. Oh well--at least I developed an effective work-around until I get a replacement unit.

Weird thing is that a CSR told me that they'd heard a lot of this same set of symptoms described lately, some of which had been caused by bad CableCARDs, faulty coax cables and network router problems. Maybe there're a lot drives in older Series3 developing failures as well.

This may have been discussed but if it has, I missed it. My S3 is connected to my display, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, with an HDMI cable. I have discovered that the S3 spontaneously loses its Native video formating and resets it to 1080i Fixed every time I turn on the display. So far, the only fix I have found has been to reset the Video Output Format every time I turn on the display. It works but it's a mess. Has anybody else had this problem and does anybody know of a possible fix?

just got my S3 upgraded with a new internal Seagate 1.5Tb hard drive.
213 HD hours and 1860 SD hours :). The upgrade is only allowed the original S3 250Gb + 1.1 Tb so you get a total of only 1.35Tb using the 1.5Tb drive.

Thanks to Spike for the WinMFS program at MFSLive.org and Bkdtv for all the info in the upgrade guide in the S3 forums at TC.

I did have a couple issues. First i used USB to Sata connectors and had a problem with WinMFS not recognizing the drives. Instead of connecting them and then booting my computer (it would hang or boot and not read them) i finally got them recognized by hot connecting the USB connectors one then the other.

Second problem was I did not use MFSAdd as i did not see that noted in either the Quick start guides or in the TC guides Section V #16 B. When i used the MFSCopy from my original S3 drive to the Seagate 1.5Tb and then MFSSupersized it, I rebooted the 1.5Tb in the S3 and it came up as only 36 hours HD in the System Info. i posted the MFSInfo at the MFSLive forums and Spike said I just needed to reconnect it and use the MFSAdd command to expand to it's full use. (when a window pops up and ask you to restrict it to 1 Tib say yes) That was it...:) reinstalled it in my S3 and booted up just fine and now the system info shows the 213 HD hours, 1860 SD hours and seems to be working just fine.

one other little warning, some early releases of the Seagate 1.5Tb drive had firmware issues so be careful you have the latest firmware if you use that drive. mine had a date code of 09303 which = Jan 25, 2009 with CC1H firmware and no reported issues, got it at bb last week on sale for $135.

hope this helps if anyone wants to consider using the Seagate 1.5Tb drive for an upgrade drive in their Tivo S3.

I'm sticking with the 1TB drivves since they are so cheap. If i could use the entire 1.5TB or 2TB I would get one of those capacities in the Western Digital Green drives. But since the TiVo doesn't take advantage of all that capacity I'll stick with my current 1TB and 750GB WD Green drives.

But yes, WinMFS makes it super easy to do the upgrade. Ive been using that for a while now with my series3 TiVos.

OK guys let's see if I got this straight. It should not matter if I'm tuned to an analog station or digital station if I'm not RSG cables for my sound. If I'm hooked up that way then I should hear the "Ba-Boop" sound unless it is turned off. Which mine isn't. Correct?

Because I noticed while watching an analog channel (and not that it should matter) I wasn't hearing that sound anymore. Now I'm not concerned about this, I just want to make sure I have the concept correct.

OK guys let's see if I got this straight. It should not matter if I'm tuned to an analog station or digital station if I'm not RSG cables for my sound. If I'm hooked up that way then I should hear the "Ba-Boop" sound unless it is turned off. Which mine isn't. Correct?If you have the TiVo set to PCM audio under Settings -> Audio, then you should hear the "boop" sounds on every channel.

If you have the TiVo set to PCM audio under Settings -> Audio, then you should hear the "boop" sounds on every channel.

Which I do and I don't hear it. Odd, but not worth making any kind of fuss about it.

I could try a reboot I guess, but I'm kind of thinking who cares?:)

An update: I called TiVo for a third time on Tuesday. The CSR wrote up a fresh problem report ticket. Yesterday, I got a notice on TiVo that they'd added something called "HD Showcase On Demand" to the lineup (a VOD channel which TiVo cannot tune). I thought that maybe they'd added more and not mentioned it, so I first checked Zap2It and found that TMC HD, Biography HD and USA HD had been added there. Strangely, neither has shown up in TiVo's guide, and I've tried forcing several connections since then. EDIT: While I was writing this, I did one more connection and the three new channels showed up. Woot (as the kids say :))! Only five more to go:735 - ABC Family HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HDUSA and TMC were two of the ones that I was looking forward to--give me FX HD and I won't care about the rest.I posted that ten days ago and those five channels are still missing. Called today (fourth call) and the CSR "escalated" my case to the highest priority and suggested that I cut-and-paste the lineup from TWC's San Diego web site into a letter and send it to their lineup team (an address at TiVo.com). I did this, with a subject line citing the case number--who knows if it'll actually help.

I told her that I knew it wasn't her fault, but that I'd called four times now about a lineup change that happened two months back without getting full resolution and that I considered that to be pretty god-awful service. She added a complimentary extra month of service. I feel so much better :rolleyes:.Last Thursday they added three of the final missing five--of course, none of those three was FX HD, the only one that I gave a damn about :mad:. Made a fifth call today about the last two, 752 FX HD and 789 MLB HD. While I was on the phone with the guy, he checked 3 online TV guides, including Zap2It and TV Guide, and didn't find them; I directed him to check TWC's site for my zipcode and he found them there (where they've been listed since they were added, two months ago).

Wanna bet that they only add MLB HD, forcing me to call again :rolleyes:?Wonder of wonders--they added both FX HD and MLB HD to the lineup yesterday, completing the 12 channels added in late December! And it only took 6 weeks and 5 calls to TiVo to accomplish it :rolleyes:. The ordeal is at an end :).

I reported channel 223 in our area (chiller) to TiVo on Monday. Guide data received today.

Not too bad.

I'm sticking with the 1TB drivves since they are so cheap. If i could use the entire 1.5TB or 2TB I would get one of those capacities in the Western Digital Green drives. But since the TiVo doesn't take advantage of all that capacity I'll stick with my current 1TB and 750GB WD Green drives...

yes, if i just wanted the space a 1Tb internal + 1Tb eSata setup would be fine. But I wanted the cleanest install and the Seagate 1.5Tb (even restricted to 1.35Tb) was the way to go. No real biggie giving up that last 150Gb in exchange for No power cord, No eSata cable connection and No drive enclosure.

Drive prices should keep coming down and i'll look to do the same one internal hard drive upgrade for my other HD and S3 Tivos sometime in the near future. Still have some giftcard $$$ from BB for several HD DVD players bought from them.

Hey everyone. I don't have the time or the technical knowledge to read and digest the 179 pages and 5000+ posts on this topic. I just have a quick question (and maybe I'd be better off starting a new thread for this).

I currently own a SD Tivo and I want to buy my wife an HD Tivo for her upcoming birthday. Is the XL worth the $599 price or should I just get the base model at $299? Are there any places that discount them? Is it better to get the base model and buy an extender? Is the extension a seamless interface (i.e., do programs just save to wherever there is open space)? Also, I believe I am entitled to a multiple discount on the life service for $299. Is that what most people are going with?

Sorry for all the questions. Thanks for any help.

e

Hey everyone. I don't have the time or the technical knowledge to read and digest the 179 pages and 5000+ posts on this topic. I just have a quick question (and maybe I'd be better off starting a new thread for this).

I currently own a SD Tivo and I want to buy my wife an HD Tivo for her upcoming birthday. Is the XL worth the $599 price or should I just get the base model at $299? Are there any places that discount them? Is it better to get the base model and buy an extender? Is the extension a seamless interface (i.e., do programs just save to wherever there is open space)? Also, I believe I am entitled to a multiple discount on the life service for $299. Is that what most people are going with?You can get the TivoHD for $199 from Sears (locally, not online). If you don't have a Sears near you, Amazon sells it for $250 shipped.

This is the thread for the discontinued TiVo Series3 model. For the moment at least, we have a separate thread for the TivoHD and TivoHD XL (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11126048#post11126048). Most questions are answered in the first post of that thread.

To expand capacity on the TivoHD, you can buy the WD Expander or spend $100 to upgrade the built-in drive...with the same one used in the $599 XL. External storage is seamlessly integrated; all future recordings are split across the internal and external drive.

If you already have a TiVo, then lifetime for $299 on the second unit sounds like the best option to me.

You can get the TivoHD for $199 from Sears (locally, not online). If you don't have a Sears near you, Amazon sells it for $250 shipped.

This is the thread for the discontinued TiVo Series3 model. For the moment at least, we have a separate thread for the TivoHD and TivoHD XL (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=11126048#post11126048). Most questions are answered in the first post of that thread.

To expand capacity on the TivoHD, you can buy the WD Expander or spend $100 to upgrade the built-in drive...with the same one used in the $599 XL. External storage is seamlessly integrated; all future recordings are split across the internal and external drive.

If you already have a TiVo, then lifetime for $299 on the second unit sounds like the best option to me.


Thanks so much for your response. I really appreciate it.

I'm moving soon,
and was curious about how to safely shut down a Tivo s3 with an external Hard Drive so I don't loose the programming on either the internal or external drive.

Any help is appreciated.

thanks,

FCD

You could really just pull the plug--TiVo has to be able to survive a power failure without loosing stored information. But, if you'd like to be especially safe, go to TiVo Central->Messages & Settings->Standby. Place the unit in Standby mode, turn off the external drive and unplug the TiVo.

You could really just pull the plug--TiVo has to be able to survive a power failure without loosing stored information. But, if you'd like to be especially safe, go to TiVo Central->Messages & Settings->Standby. Place the unit in Standby mode, turn off the external drive and unplug the TiVo.

Even in standby mode TiVo will record so really going there doesn't make much difference.

Turn off any eSATA (if you can) then unplug it. If you can't turn off the esata unplug that first.

You won't lose your programming.

I've always felt it was safer, at least theoretically, to shut down and unplug the Tivo first. It can't register a change in external drive status if it's not on.

I've always felt it was safer, at least theoretically, to shut down and unplug the Tivo first. It can't register a change in external drive status if it's not on.

I do know that you start the eSATA first then start the TiVo.

You know what as many times as I have just flat out unplugged it and didn't do anything with the eSATA drive, and I've done it a lot, I've never lost programming.

If you have a power outage and your UPS goes then what happens? More of a possibility of damage or lost data during start up, IMHO.

Thanks for all the advice.

Upon start up again,
just connect them back together, plug in the eSata first,
then the Tivo, right

FCD

Thanks for all the advice.

Upon start up again,
just connect them back together, plug in the eSata first,
then the Tivo, right

FCD

That's how the instructions read on my eSATA, correct.:)

Hmmm. You're right--I knew that it would perform scheduled recordings, but I thought that it would stop buffering the tuners and writing to the HDDs while not recording (which was my goal), but it doesn't.

A sure way to stop it from writing to the HDDs is to "tune" a couple of VOD channels. (Tune a VOD channel, hit the LIVE button to switch tuners and tune a different VOD channel).

(I'm waiting for a replacement for my S3, which is suffering an HDD failure, and I'm using that tact to still get some use out of it. The time it loses and high-priority CPU time it spends dealing with write failures makes it unable to keep up with HD recording, so I eliminate any instances of simultaneous scheduled recordings and set both tuner to unrecordable channels. When making a single recording, it will always choose the tuner that's not displayed, keeping the displayed tuner untouched on an unrecordable channel and not generating disk I/O. Even with these restrictions, I can't record the highest bit rate channels--which include the local CBS affiliate--or watch a recording while making one).

I'd punt and watch SD until you get your replacement. Just an idea.:)

I'd punt and watch SD until you get your replacement. Just an idea.:)Nah--I've been through a week of this and have gotten most of what I watch recorded in HD. I've found the rest online.

I'm waiting for a replacement for my S3, which is suffering an HDD failure...Inasmuch as Monday was the 7th business day since they said they were sending the replacement, I complained yesterday (Tuesday) and they found out that it "got held up in fulfillment" :rolleyes:. In any case, the nice person who was helping me expedited it and I received one via UPS overnight today. I was kind of expecting an addressed, postage-paid label with which to return my old unit for refurbishment, and there was none. I called my friend Eric (with whom I shared an office for two years at Kyocera Wireless here in San Diego, who's worked on firmware at TiVo up in Santa Clara for the past four years) and asked whether he could use it (he hasn't worked on HD TiVos and doesn't have one from work, but has recently purchased an HDTV). He told me to make sure that it was okay with the person who was handling my case and she was cool with it, so I'm going to put it in the mail to him.

Apparently, they were just going to trash it by leaving it in my custody and rendering it unusable. Once I transferred my service to it, it would be filed in a list of service numbers which no consumer is allowed to activate. (Not sure what would have happened had I activated new service on the replacement, but I wasn't willing to pay for two units and it came with no accessories--not even a power cable). It seems that the reason I wasn't asked to return it for refurb is that Series3 has been out of production for six months and they no longer refurbish them.

Just thought that was an interesting tidbit.

[Apparently I hit EDIT and not QUOTE, so the post that I quoted at the top of this has been lost forever. Oh well :o].

Inasmuch as Monday was the 7th business day since they said they were sending the replacement, I complained yesterday (Tuesday) and they found out that it "got held up in fulfillment" :rolleyes:. In any case, the nice person who was helping me expedited it and I received one via UPS overnight today. I was kind of expecting an addressed, postage-paid label with which to return my old unit for refurbishment, and there was none. I called my friend Eric (with whom I shared an office for two years at Kyocera Wireless here in San Diego, who's worked on firmware at TiVo up in Santa Clara for the past four years) and asked whether he could use it (he hasn't worked on HD TiVos and doesn't have one from work, but has recently purchased an HDTV). He told me to make sure that it was okay with the person who was handling my case and she was cool with it, so I'm going to put it in the mail to him.

Apparently, they were just going to trash it by leaving it in my custody and rendering it unusable. Once I transferred my service to it, it would be filed in a list of service numbers which no consumer is allowed to activate. (Not sure what would have happened had I activated new service on the replacement, but I wasn't willing to pay for two units and it came with no accessories--not even a power cable). It seems that the reason I wasn't asked to return it for refurb is that Series3 has been out of production for six months and they no longer refurbish them.

Just thought that was an interesting tidbit.

[Apparently I hit EDIT and not QUOTE, so the post that I quoted at the top of this has been lost forever. Oh well :o].

My experience is that if you don't return the old unit (yes, you pay shipping), they will charge you $1,200. I can't see them changing that, since they need them back to refurbish them to cover the next failure.

My experience is that if you don't return the old unit (yes, you pay shipping), they will charge you $1,200. I can't see them changing that, since they need them back to refurbish them to cover the next failure.As I stated, it'd been my assumption that they'd want it back and that the package would contain instructions for returning it. When I didn't get such instructions, I checked with the person who had the replacement sent to me and they quite definitely did not want the unit back, period, and they did not want anyone else using it, so its service number was rendered un-reactivate-able. They were, however, fine with me giving it to a TiVo employee (who can deal internally with getting it activated, for free). Again, they've apparently stopped refurbing Series3 units, presumably a part of its end-of-life plan. I don't know what they plan to do when they run out of them. (I can tell you that their page offering refurbs for sale (https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do?type=renewed) no longer lists refurbed Series3 units, just HDs and HD XLs; I'd half expected to get an HD XL as a replacement).

I'm only telling you what I've been told by representatives of TiVo. Take it or leave it.

As I stated, it'd been my assumption that they'd want it back and that the package would contain instructions for returning it. When I didn't get such instructions, I checked with the person who had the replacement sent to me and they quite definitely did not want the unit back, period, and they did not want anyone else using it, so its service number was rendered un-reactivate-able. They were, however, fine with me giving it to a TiVo employee (who can deal internally with getting it activated, for free). Again, they've apparently stopped refurbing Series3 units, presumably a part of its end-of-life plan. I don't know what they plan to do when they run out of them. (I can tell you that their page offering refurbs for sale (https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do?type=renewed) no longer lists refurbed Series3 units, just HDs and HD XLs; I'd half expected to get an HD XL as a replacement).

I'm only telling you what I've been told by representatives of TiVo. Take it or leave it.

Hopefully, they don't have your CC number.

John

Hopefully, they don't have your CC number.I'm pretty sure that they told me the truth, but believe what you want.

Hopefully, they don't have your CC number.

John

That's just plain nonsense. How could they ever justify a charge of 1200.00 on a unit that doesn't even retail at that amount. Certainly if they did attempt to charge that amount you could dispute the charge with your credit card company, and even if it's a debit card they probably wouldn't get away with it because of charge limits.

That's just plain nonsense. How could they ever justify a charge of 1200.00 on a unit that doesn't even retail at that amount. Certainly if they did attempt to charge that amount you could dispute the charge with your credit card company, and even if it's a debit card they probably wouldn't get away with it because of charge limits.

When I replaced my S3, I opted for the expedite option. They did what they told me they would. They charged my card $1,200 and shipped immediately. They then credited it $1,150 when they recieved my return. The alternative was to wait til they recieved my defective unit before they shipped. Shipping of the return was my responsibility and cost.

When I replaced my S3, I opted for the expedite option. They did what they told me they would. They charged my card $1,200 and shipped immediately. They then credited it $1,150 when they recieved my return. The alternative was to wait til they recieved my defective unit before they shipped. Shipping of the return was my responsibility and cost.

Yes but you opted in for that. Many businesses do that. Michael Scott is saying he didn't have to do an opt in.

And respectfully, I know you wanted your TiVo back but I wouldn't have agreed to allowing that much to opt into since the darn thing isn't worth that much. When it was first released it maxed out around 899.00. You agreed to almost twice that price. Again, respectfully, I don't think that was a wise decision if you allowed that.

When I replaced my S3, I opted for the expedite option. They did what they told me they would. They charged my card $1,200 and shipped immediately. They then credited it $1,150 when they recieved my return. The alternative was to wait til they recieved my defective unit before they shipped. Shipping of the return was my responsibility and cost.When was this?

I was in consumer electronics R&D for 17 years and I've witnessed various end-of-life plans. After production of a product ceases, hardware support for the product winds down sometime thereafter, often very soon thereafter (software support for it will probably go on for years--I think that they just recently stopped SW support for Series1). They evidently think that they have enough new and refurbed Series3 units on the shelf to cover anticipated demand through the end of support.

EDIT: BTW, you hoped that they don't have a CC # for me, and I actually don't think that they do. I bought 3 years service when I purchased the unit (of which 11 months remains) using a debit card that I lost during my last move and had replaced. So even if they filed that number when I ordered the 3-year package, it's no longer valid.

The service number for my old unit has already been deactivated. It's still "working"; I think that it's in that we'll-give-you-a-few-days-of-service-to-give-you-a-chance-to-activate phase, only I'm sure that they won't let me activate that number again. Very soon, it will be a worthless brick.

I'm hoping that I can get TWC to pair my old CableCARDs to the unit over the phone (tricky, because I share a house and I'm not the service subscriber of record).

The service number for my old unit has already been deactivated. It's still "working"; I think that it's in that we'll-give-you-a-few-days-of-service-to-give-you-a-chance-to-activate phase, only I'm sure that they won't let me activate that number again. Very soon, it will be a worthless brick.

I'm hoping that I can get TWC to pair my old CableCARDs to the unit over the phone (tricky, because I share a house and I'm not the service subscriber of record).

Heh Heh, lots of luck there, bud. Tricky? This is TW we're talking.

Actually I have to change my attitude about TW, I'm so negative about anything with any cable company. They are starting SDV here on 4/9 and actually have plans to make tuning adapters available to TiVo owners after 4/1. They are FedExing the adapters, I put in for two.

Hopefully things will go as planned but to be honest out of all the channels I see going to SDV I hardly ever look at them.

Heh Heh, lots of luck there, bud. Tricky? This is TW we're talking.I don't expect them to deal with me over the phone unless I have a lot of information that I don't, like the subscriber's SSN, etc. I'll get my housemate to call them this evening. If they can't pair the CableCARDs over the phone this evening, at least they can make a note in her account to help me tomorrow (they did that to allow me to exchange cable modems when we switched to a higher speed service than the old one supported).

In theory, I could hook the thing up, register it, and get all of the local channels through the guide, using the maps in my Tuning Adapter. I may try that just to confirm the theory. The cruddy thing here is that I have to write down my list of Season Passes, some of which are on mid-season haitus and therefore won't have guide entries :rolleyes:. They ought to cache them in your account over the net so that they can be restored to a replacement unit.
Hopefully things will go as planned but to be honest out of all the channels I see going to SDV I hardly ever look at them.In my case there were really only three (out of probably 60 or so non-foreign-language ones) that I cared about: Sci Fi HD, TMC HD and Tennis Channel. It's nice to have some of the others, but I could have lived without them.

In my case there were really only three (out of probably 60 or so non-foreign-language ones) that I cared about: Sci Fi HD, TMC HD and Tennis Channel. It's nice to have some of the others, but I could have lived without them.

I've got a list in front of me of SDV channels andout of the HD ones the only one of any concern STO HD(Sports Time Ohio) and maybe A&E HD. I'm still trying to figure out a way to get MLB Extra Innings, but for several reasons that may not happen.

We actually have an idea of what new channels are coming and SCI Fi HD is suppose to hit us "on or after" 3/31 before SDV comes along with several others. Then after SDV comes there is a list of other channels. Now probably the majority of those will be on SDV but I'm not sure. I do see MLBnet HD on the expected "on or after" 4/31 and that's a must have but I'm certain I'll have the tuner adapter by then.

Everything went according to plan when I bought my S3. I knew Adelphia was up for sale and I knew when Time Warner bought it they'd have there hands full and as I hoped the Tuner Adapter was developed in that time. Actually I had no idea of what they were going to do, I just had faith in TiVo and it paid off. And I won't have to wait like so many others did for them to get them in stock.

This is probably similar to the question asked above, but I am going to ask anyway...

My TiVo S2 died after I shut off the breaker for the circuit it was attached to. (The front lights just blink over and over, and it makes a pathetic sounding wheezing sound).

I called TiVo to cancel the account for that box, and they ended up selling me a replacement TiVo HD for $200.

My question is: If I have cablecards in a couple of other TV's, can I just yank them out and put them in the TiVo, or will that just cause me frustration? I would love to be able to call Charter and see if they can pair them for me over the phone, but they have never done this for me before (I have 5 cablecards right now).

I just want to be able to hook it up and go!!

Thanks

This is probably similar to the question asked above, but I am going to ask anyway...

My TiVo S2 died after I shut off the breaker for the circuit it was attached to. (The front lights just blink over and over, and it makes a pathetic sounding wheezing sound).

I called TiVo to cancel the account for that box, and they ended up selling me a replacement TiVo HD for $200.

My question is: If I have cablecards in a couple of other TV's, can I just yank them out and put them in the TiVo, or will that just cause me frustration? I would love to be able to call Charter and see if they can pair them for me over the phone, but they have never done this for me before (I have 5 cablecards right now).

I just want to be able to hook it up and go!!

Thanks

TiVo HD does not require Cable Cards to be paired, so it should work. Give it a try! Whether they work back in the original devices if you go back is a question.

The service number for my old unit has already been deactivated. It's still "working"; I think that it's in that we'll-give-you-a-few-days-of-service-to-give-you-a-chance-to-activate phase, only I'm sure that they won't let me activate that number again. Very soon, it will be a worthless brick.I just checked my account online and they've changed the service number of my single unit to what I assume is the one in the new unit (haven't gotten around to hooking it up yet). How very special. Strangely, the Media Access Key is the same. Hopefully that's not a mistake.

TiVo HD does not require Cable Cards to be paired, so it should work. Give it a try! Whether they work back in the original devices if you go back is a question.

Really? Is this different than the S3? I just set up an appointment for Saturday. I guess I will just plug them in and see what happens tomorrow. If it doesn't work, I will keep the scheduled appointment!

Thanks,
Jeff

TiVo HD does not require Cable Cards to be paired, so it should work. Give it a try! Whether they work back in the original devices if you go back is a question.

Wrong! They do need to be paired. The only time you don't pair the cards is if it's an M card and then you only use one.

As far as Spiff72's question, that depends on your cable company if they will allow you to do that. Since most cable companies are evil, I highly doubt it. Since they will require pairing you will at least need to contact them.

Really? Is this different than the S3? I just set up an appointment for Saturday. I guess I will just plug them in and see what happens tomorrow. If it doesn't work, I will keep the scheduled appointment!A TivoHD is able to support both tuners with a single M-CARD, but the cards still need to be paired if that is what the provider requires. Some cable providers (like mine) do not require that a card be paired, but most do.

Did TiVo send you a refurb or a new TivoHD? I believe you can tell by the first six digits of the service number -- 652-0001 would be new, while 652-0011 would be a refurb. I only ask because you could have purchased a new TivoHD for $199 from Sears. You'd just login at TiVo.com and click "Replace service number" to replace the old number with the new, preserving your existing monthly or yearly subscription.

The tech person I talked to on the phone was worthless. I asked about getting an Mcard, and she said I would have to talk to the technician about this. And of course he won't bring one with him if they don't tell him to.

I guess I will have to pilfer the cards from my other TV's.

Wrong! They do need to be paired. The only time you don't pair the cards is if it's an M card and then you only use one.

As far as Spiff72's question, that depends on your cable company if they will allow you to do that. Since most cable companies are evil, I highly doubt it. Since they will require pairing you will at least need to contact them.

I'm a FIOS guy. When I got my replacement, I called Cust Svc and they told me they didn't need to be paired. I moved them and they worked. I guess different providers are different.

A TivoHD is able to support both tuners with a single M-CARD, but the cards still need to be paired if that is what the provider requires. Some cable providers (like mine) do not require that a card be paired, but most do.

Did TiVo send you a refurb or a new TivoHD? I believe you can tell by the first six digits of the service number -- 652-0001 would be new, while 652-0011 would be a refurb. I only ask because you could have purchased a new TivoHD for $199 from Sears. You'd just login at TiVo.com and click "Replace service number" to replace the old number with the new, preserving your existing monthly or yearly subscription.

The guy at TiVo TOLD me it was brand new. We shall see, though. It doesn't arrive until tomorrow. I see on their web site that TiVo has a sale going on Refurb TiVo HD's for $199, so my bet would be that it will be a refurb.

I'm a FIOS guy. When I got my replacement, I called Cust Svc and they told me they didn't need to be paired. I moved them and they worked. I guess different providers are different.Right. FiOS does not pair CableCards, so you can swap their cards in and out of different boxes all day long.

A TivoHD is able to support both tuners with a single M-CARD, but the cards still need to be paired if that is what the provider requires. Some cable providers (like mine) do not require that a card be paired, but most do.
That's right. Although the TiVo doesn't care whether or not the cards are paired, it is usually necessary to reconfigure the cards when they are moved from one device to another. Unfortunately, the pairing process can get ugly. For a variety of reasons I have had to go through the process with Cox OKC on four separate occasions. With one exception, it was a several hour exercise each time.

Well, I plugged in my replacement Series3 last night (unfortunately not soon enough to catch Bones and Smallville, my own damn fault :rolleyes:). It's quite obvious to me now that the HDD problem with my old unit had been slowly building for some time--the thing is a million times faster. Some things that I thought were slow, like the new search tool, are much, much faster now.

The only problem is that I can't get to the "Download TV, Movies & Web Video" menu and I can't get TiVo Desktop to connect to it. Attempts to enter the download menu gets me a message indicating that I either don't have broadband internet enabled (which I do) or that I haven't opted in to TiVo's privacy thing, which I have. I am able to connect to all of the other network things, like Yahoo Weather, YouTube (from the HME menu) and the new search tool.

I then noticed that the box is at firmware rev 9.4c and not 11b. I'm now in a process of continually forcing connections until it chooses to give me the update, which it hopefully eventually will. I don't understand TiVo's connection process. You'd think that it would notice that I didn't have the latest firmware on my very first connection and download it then :rolleyes:.

The only problem is that I can't get to the "Download TV, Movies & Web Video" menu and I can't get TiVo Desktop to connect to it. Attempts to enter the download menu gets me a message indicating that I either don't have broadband internet enabled (which I do) or that I haven't opted in to TiVo's privacy thing, which I have. I am able to connect to all of the other network things, like Yahoo Weather, YouTube (from the HME menu) and the new search tool.After you connect a new TiVo, it takes 24-48 hours for all network features to become available.

I then noticed that the box is at firmware rev 9.4c and not 11b. I'm now in a process of continually forcing connections until it chooses to give me the update, which it hopefully eventually will. I don't understand TiVo's connection process. You'd think that it would notice that I didn't have the latest firmware on my very first connection and download it then :rolleyes:.IIRC, the TiVo should grab the newest software on the 4th connection.

After you connect a new TiVo, it takes 24-48 hours for all network features to become available.

IIRC, the TiVo should grab the newest software on the 4th connection.It actually did it on the second connection (or third, if you count the one during Guided Setup). Now I'm getting the "Preparing the service update. This may take up to an hour, possibly longer," message. I haven't seen that one in a while.

BTW, I have confirmed one thing--if you have a Tuning Adapter connected without CableCARDs, you get guide data for all of the channels and you can tune the clear QAM local DTV channels through the guide. I created and couple of Season Passes for shows last night and they went off without a hitch.

EDIT: I got the 11.0b update and the I can get the "Video On Demand" menu (without Netflix for some reason :rolleyes:). I still can't connect with TiVo Desktop--the server sees the TiVo and has the right MAK, but still no joy, with it claiming that the MAK doesn't match. (Note that I can log into its "Now Playing On TiVo" web page using the MAK as password).

EDIT EDIT: Netflix suddenly appeared and works fine after registration of the new device. I can't download Amazon Unbox items that I own and I'm not sure why.

A TivoHD is able to support both tuners with a single M-CARD, but the cards still need to be paired if that is what the provider requires. Some cable providers (like mine) do not require that a card be paired, but most do.

Did TiVo send you a refurb or a new TivoHD? I believe you can tell by the first six digits of the service number -- 652-0001 would be new, while 652-0011 would be a refurb. I only ask because you could have purchased a new TivoHD for $199 from Sears. You'd just login at TiVo.com and click "Replace service number" to replace the old number with the new, preserving your existing monthly or yearly subscription.

Well, the serial number on the box is 652-0001..., so I guess they were telling me the truth - that it is a new box after all...

:)

This may have been discussed but if it has, I missed it. My S3 is connected to my display, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, with an HDMI cable. I have discovered that the S3 spontaneously loses its Native video formating and resets it to 1080i Fixed every time I turn on the display. So far, the only fix I have found has been to reset the Video Output Format every time I turn on the display. It works but it's a mess. Has anybody else had this problem and does anybody know of a possible fix?
Yes .. I have the same problem for the past 2 years with my series3 as well. it's a pain to have to change the video format to native every so often ...i have not figured out what causes it ...

i suspect this happens every time tivo gets itself a software update and reboots at night ...

Yes .. I have the same problem for the past 2 years with my series3 as well. it's a pain to have to change the video format to native every so often ...i have not figured out what causes it ...

i suspect this happens every time tivo gets itself a software update and reboots at night ...
I haven't figured out a way to prevent it when my S3 and TV, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, are directly connected via HDMI. I recently got a Yamaha RX-V3900 AV receiver, though, and now route the HDMI cabling from my components, including the S3, to the 3900. Only the 3900 is directly connected to the Kuro. With this setup, I can insure that the S3 retains its Native video setting by turning it on before I turn on the 3900.

This glitch is just one more irritating inconvenience of HDMI, which is first and foremost a copy protection scheme. I have found other glitches, too, but decline to discuss them here in the interest of my mental health. Aaaarrrgh! :)

Yes .. I have the same problem for the past 2 years with my series3 as well. it's a pain to have to change the video format to native every so often ...i have not figured out what causes it ...

i suspect this happens every time tivo gets itself a software update and reboots at night ...

None of my TiVos I have set to native do this. Once I set it, it stays on Native. A software update, reboot, etc. does not affect it. Five of my seven TiVos are set to Native output. Three Series 3 boxes and two TiVo HD boxes. They have no problems staying on Native output.
All my boxes set to Native output are using the HDMI output for audio and video. None of them are connected directly to the TV. They are going through a variety of HDMI devices before reaching the TV.
Three of them go through two HDMI switches, an Algolith HDMI Flea, an HDMI 1x2 splitter, a DVDO EDGE video processor, and Denon 3808 receiver, before going over HDMI to my Samsung LED DLP TV. And even routing through all those HDMI devices, they never lose their Native output setting.

Yes .. I have the same problem for the past 2 years with my series3 as well. it's a pain to have to change the video format to native every so often ...i have not figured out what causes it ...

i suspect this happens every time tivo gets itself a software update and reboots at night ...


My S3 loses its Native Video Format setting each time I put it in Standby. My remote control is programmed to shut down all A/V equipment, including putting the S3 into Standby Mode. I then need to reset the Video Format each time I power the system back up. If I leave the projector and Pre/Pro powered up and put the S3 into Standby, the Native setting is lost. When I re-activate the S3, the Video Format is at 1080i Fixed.

When I called TiVo to report the issue, the CSR told me that the S3 is automatically getting the display's max resolution via 2-way HDMI communication, which may be correct but it sounds like a load of bull! Why have manual Video Format settings if the HDMI communication is simply going to override the user's configuration settings?

It's an annoyance! If the S3 has Discreet Video Format settings via RS-232, I may go that route as a workaround to control the S3 and reset the Video each time I turn on the system.

My S3 loses its Native Video Format setting each time I put it in Standby. My remote control is programmed to shut down all A/V equipment, including putting the S3 into Standby Mode. I then need to reset the Video Format each time I power the system back up. If I leave the projector and Pre/Pro powered up and put the S3 into Standby, the Native setting is lost. When I re-activate the S3, the Video Format is at 1080i Fixed.

When I called TiVo to report the issue, the CSR told me that the S3 is automatically getting the display's max resolution via 2-way HDMI communication, which may be correct but it sounds like a load of bull! Why have manual Video Format settings if the HDMI communication is simply going to override the user's configuration settings?

It's an annoyance! If the S3 has Discreet Video Format settings via RS-232, I may go that route as a workaround to control the S3 and reset the Video each time I turn on the system.

None of this makes any sense. By default TiVo settings for video are native. Only when you change them to they ever change.

My S3 is currently set on Native, has been since day one. I've had numerous times of rebooting, most recently within the last month. My TiVo HD is set at 720P Fixed and it has stayed there even after reboot.

Just for the poster I quoted you should be aware that putting your TiVo in stand by mode really doesn't amount to a hill of beans. It still will record in stand by and your hard disk(s) are still running. Why they even have stand by is a mystery to me.

...putting your TiVo in stand by mode really doesn't amount to a hill of beans. It still will record in stand by and your hard disk(s) are still running. Why they even have stand by is a mystery to me.From a page (http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/technicalsupport/issueswithmydvr/Standby_Mode.html) on TiVo's site:Putting a TiVo DVR into Standby mode does the following:
Stops sending video and audio from the DVR to the TV.
Causes the lights on the front of the unit to go out.
Re-enables Parental Controls if they have been temporarily disabled.
Enters KidZone Now Playing screen upon return from standby (if KidZone is on).
Programs that are being recorded or are scheduled to record will still be recorded (if a program is being recorded the red light will turn on.)
If you used an RF coaxial cable to connect a program source to the DVR and to connect the DVR to the TV, Standby mode provides RF pass through. This means you can watch channels on your RF program source while the DVR is in Standby mode.I know that some folks with Series3s worry about the OLED display wearing out, and if the thing is in your bedroom, you might want to douse the display at bedtime. AFAIK, the stopping of A/V output is of marginal value and the parental control/KidZone stuff is irrelevant to many of us.

The halting of video signal when put in standby sounds like where Audiodynamics' problem lies, must be something wonky with the HDMI signaling between his projector and the S3, my guess is it's the projector as the problem seems to extremely isolated, this is the first I've ever read about it. Maybe something out of spec, an extra signal, a command/control maybe?

The halting of video signal when put in standby sounds like where Audiodynamics' problem lies, must be something wonky with the HDMI signaling between his projector and the S3, my guess is it's the projector as the problem seems to extremely isolated, this is the first I've ever read about it. Maybe something out of spec, an extra signal, a command/control maybe?

Doesn't make sense. The default is still native, not 1080i Fixed.

Doesn't make sense. The default is still native, not 1080i Fixed.
I agree, it doesn't really make sense. Maybe he should try the S3 with a standard display and see what happens, at least it will narrow down where the problem is.

None of this makes any sense. By default TiVo settings for video are native. Only when you change them to they ever change.

My S3 is currently set on Native, has been since day one. I've had numerous times of rebooting, most recently within the last month. My TiVo HD is set at 720P Fixed and it has stayed there even after reboot.
Count yourself lucky that you have not been beset by the dreaded loss of video setting because it is a very real problem for some of us.

As noted in an earlier post, my S3 lost its video setting of Native and spontaneously shifted to 1080i Fixed every time I turned on the TV, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, when the TV was directly connected to the S3 with an HDMI cable. Later I got a Yamaha RX-V3900 AV receiver and routed the HDMI connection from the S3 to the receiver, which also had an HDMI connection to the TV. The S3 still lost video if I used my Harmony remote to turn on the receiver and the TV at the same time. The only way I can avoid the problem is to turn on the TV first and only then turn on the receiver. When I do that, the S3 remembers that it is set on Native. Don't ask why it happened in the first place or why the solution I found works because I haven't the foggiest notion.

Count yourself lucky that you have not been beset by the dreaded loss of video setting because it is a very real problem for some of us.

As noted in an earlier post, my S3 lost its video setting of Native and spontaneously shifted to 1080i Fixed every time I turned on the TV, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, when the TV was directly connected to the S3 with an HDMI cable. Later I got a Yamaha RX-V3900 AV receiver and routed the HDMI connection from the S3 to the receiver, which also had an HDMI connection to the TV. The S3 still lost video if I used my Harmony remote to turn on the receiver and the TV at the same time. The only way I can avoid the problem is to turn on the TV first and only then turn on the receiver. When I do that, the S3 remembers that it is set on Native. Don't ask why it happened in the first place or why the solution I found works because I haven't the foggiest notion.

Every time I reboot my TiVo I have the television on so that could be why I've never seen this. So there's your solution TURN YOUR TV ON WHEN YOU BOOT or when you take it off standby.

I don't know the idea of rebooting TiVo and not having the television on seems a bit strange to me. But that's just me, YMMV.;)

My home internet connection has been out for a while now, so I had to bring s3 into my
office to download the latest program data.

I get all the listings in the channel guide, but both my Season Passes and Search by Program title don't seem to be getting the new data.

Is there any way to "force" the system to recognize the new download?

thanks,

FCD

Every time I reboot my TiVo I have the television on so that could be why I've never seen this. So there's your solution TURN YOUR TV ON WHEN YOU BOOT or when you take it off standby.

I don't know the idea of rebooting TiVo and not having the television on seems a bit strange to me. But that's just me, YMMV.;)
I always have the TV on when I do a reboot. Thus, turning it on is not a solution, alas. At least not for me. Several others who, like me, have both a Pioneer Kuro and an S3 suffer from the same problem, so it likely has to do with the interaction between the TV and the S3. But owners of Yamaha RX-V1900 and 3900 AV receivers have also posted about the problem, so go figure. Anyway, I have solved my problem, thanks to the simple kludge of turning on the TV before I turn on the AV receiver. It's a little clumsy but it works.

My home internet connection has been out for a while now, so I had to bring s3 into my
office to download the latest program data.

I get all the listings in the channel guide, but both my Season Passes and Search by Program title don't seem to be getting the new data.

Is there any way to "force" the system to recognize the new download?If you just downloaded 14 days of guide data, the TiVo will take a day or two to index that information. Until that indexing is complete, search results (and the To Do List for the entire week) won't be complete.

If you reboot or unplug your TiVo, that will only slow the indexing process.

I gave it a day and half, but will check again tonight and hope for the best.

thanks for the heads up on the Indexing process.

FCD

If you just downloaded 14 days of guide data, the TiVo will take a day or two to index that information. Until that indexing is complete, search results (and the To Do List for the entire week) won't be complete.

If you reboot or unplug your TiVo, that will only slow the indexing process.

None of this makes any sense. By default TiVo settings for video are native. Only when you change them to they ever change.

My S3 is currently set on Native, has been since day one. I've had numerous times of rebooting, most recently within the last month. My TiVo HD is set at 720P Fixed and it has stayed there even after reboot.

Just for the poster I quoted you should be aware that putting your TiVo in stand by mode really doesn't amount to a hill of beans. It still will record in stand by and your hard disk(s) are still running. Why they even have stand by is a mystery to me.


Hello Hook,

I'm glad to see you're still posting here at AVS. I mourned the day you were banned at the TiVo Community Forum.

I've been a TiVo user for the past several years and I am aware of it's many functions. Thank you for reminding me, but I already know that shutting down the TiVo would prevent it from recording shows. This would defeat the purpose of owning a TiVo, wouldn't it?

Standby only shuts down the audio and video processing and outputs. I assume slightly less energy is consumed when the unit is in Standby. When shutting down the system, the only reason my remotes are programmed to put the TiVos in Standby is energy conservation. I've got three TiVo's running 24/7. Show me that I'm not saving any energy by using Standby and I'll gladly never use Standby again.

Back to the issue I'm having, I don't know why the darn S3 keeps changing it's Video Format setting to 1080i Fixed? The S3 worked fine for about a year and did not have this issue. This problem started sometime in the past 6-9 months, probably after one of the firmware updates. I didn't realize I had the problem at first because I do not compulsively check my projector to see what the incoming video resolution is. My projector is a Sim2 and has proprietary video processing and scaling that is better than most outboard scalers. Therefore, I have no use for any video processing or upscaling and I want my sources to output the original, native video signal to be processed in the projector. In other words, I would really be happy if my S3 could retain my user settings, stay on NATIVE and stop annoying me with 1080i Fixed.

My guess is, the TiVo programmers created this issue in one of the software updates. If the TiVo CSR is correct and the unit is receiveing the video format via 2-way HDMI, then why offer any user settings at all? If TiVo wanted to add an "Auto Mode" that's fine with me but leave the other settings as user defined, "forced" settings.

Since the S3 only seems to change formats after coming out of Standby, for now I need to take your advice and re-program my remotes to not engage the S3's Standby mode.

I know that 1080i Fixed is not the S3's default setting. But if NATIVE is the default setting as you claim, then why doesn't my S3 default to Native?

NOTE: My TiVo HD does not suffer from the Video Format changing anomaly and retains my user setting, only my S3 does this. Does anyone with a TiVo HD have this issue?

I agree, it doesn't really make sense. Maybe he should try the S3 with a standard display and see what happens, at least it will narrow down where the problem is.

It happens with my Pio Elite Plasma also. As I mentioned earlier, the S3 did not suffer from this anomaly at first. My hunch is a TiVo software update screwed things up for me.

Count yourself lucky that you have not been beset by the dreaded loss of video setting because it is a very real problem for some of us.

As noted in an earlier post, my S3 lost its video setting of Native and spontaneously shifted to 1080i Fixed every time I turned on the TV, a Pioneer Kuro 6020, when the TV was directly connected to the S3 with an HDMI cable. Later I got a Yamaha RX-V3900 AV receiver and routed the HDMI connection from the S3 to the receiver, which also had an HDMI connection to the TV. The S3 still lost video if I used my Harmony remote to turn on the receiver and the TV at the same time. The only way I can avoid the problem is to turn on the TV first and only then turn on the receiver. When I do that, the S3 remembers that it is set on Native. Don't ask why it happened in the first place or why the solution I found works because I haven't the foggiest notion.


Thanks for posting your workaround!

My PJ and Pre/Pro do turn on first, then the S3. I'll add some more delay time before the S3 turns on, delaying the HDMI handshake. Perhaps this will act as a viable workaround for me?

Did your S3 always have this issue or did it crop up at a later time like mine did?

My home internet connection has been out for a while now, so I had to bring s3 into my
office to download the latest program data.

I get all the listings in the channel guide, but both my Season Passes and Search by Program title don't seem to be getting the new data.

Is there any way to "force" the system to recognize the new download?

thanks,

FCD

Bringing your TiVo to your office is a lot of work! Why not temporarily try the telephone connection to TiVo?

I've got a problem that I can't figure out. Last week, TiVo sent me a replacement for my Series3, whose HDD was failing. They automatically registered the replacement as the unit for my existing service--the Media Access Key did not change at all.

The problem is that I can't get TiVo Desktop to work. It starts up, it sees the new TiVo (it lists it on the Access Control tab of server properties) but when I click "Pick Recordings to Transfer", the "Pick..." dialog pops up and displays the following message in its top pane:
There was an error while attempting to retrieve data from the selected DVR.

The TiVo DVR's Media Access Key does not match the key in TiVo Desktop.

To authenticate this DVR for transfers over your home network, you'll need to enter the Media Access Key for your account. Please choose Set Media Access Key from the file menu.The MAK I've given it is correct and I've set it over and over again. The same string works as the password for the TiVo's "Now Playing" web page. The "Allow Transfers" and "Enable video downloads" options are set for the unit in my TiVo account and privacy status on the account is "Opt-In". I can download from Amazon and TiVoCast and I can play streaming Netflix content. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling TiVo Desktop to no avail. Anyone have any idea why this doesn't work properly?

It happens with my Pio Elite Plasma also. As I mentioned earlier, the S3 did not suffer from this anomaly at first. My hunch is a TiVo software update screwed things up for me.My Pioneer Kuro (KRP-600M) does not do this, at least not when connected to the TivoHD through a Denon AVR-3808ci. It remains on native regardless of the order that I turn on/off components; it even remains on native when I reboot.

I haven't gotten around to connecting it directly to the TiVo yet to see if that makes any difference.

NOTE: My TiVo HD does not suffer from the Video Format changing anomaly and retains my user setting, only my S3 does this. Does anyone with a TiVo HD have this issue?Edit: I responded above before I saw this.

Thanks for posting your workaround!

My PJ and Pre/Pro do turn on first, then the S3. I'll add some more delay time before the S3 turns on, delaying the HDMI handshake. Perhaps this will act as a viable workaround for me?

Did your S3 always have this issue or did it crop up at a later time like mine did?
First, the S3 does not "turn on" when you decide to watch it, it is usually on all the time and is designed to remain that way most of the time. The S3's only other possible states are Standby, which it doesn't enter unless you put it there from the menu, and unplugged.

My original HDTV, which the Pioneer Kuro 6020 replaced, couldn't handle the S3's Native video setting, so I set the S3 to 1080i Fixed. Only when I got the 6020 last August did the problem arise. It happened because the 6020 can handle Native video and provides better PQ when Native is used, especially with 720p sources.

As noted in an earlier post, I solved the problem by simply turning on the 6020 before turning on my AV receiver. That way, the S3 retains its Native setting.

I've got a problem that I can't figure out. Last week, TiVo sent me a replacement for my Series3, whose HDD was failing. They automatically registered the replacement as the unit for my existing service--the Media Access Key did not change at all.

The problem is that I can't get TiVo Desktop to work. It starts up, it sees the new TiVo (it lists it on the Access Control tab of server properties) but when I click "Pick Recordings to Transfer", the "Pick..." dialog pops up and displays the following message in its top pane:
The MAK I've given it is correct and I've set it over and over again. The same string works as the password for the TiVo's "Now Playing" web page. The "Allow Transfers" and "Enable video downloads" options are set for the unit in my TiVo account and privacy status on the account is "Opt-In". I can download from Amazon and TiVoCast and I can play streaming Netflix content. I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling TiVo Desktop to no avail. Anyone have any idea why this doesn't work properly?


I'd be interested in seeing what your results were with pyTivo. That'd help us more precisely determine exactly what was wrong. If pyTivo worked, then TD is borked (possibly registry cached MAK?). If pyTivo didn't work, then your MAK is probably hosed at TiVo's servers.

I'd be interested in seeing what your results were with pyTivo. That'd help us more precisely determine exactly what was wrong. If pyTivo worked, then TD is borked (possibly registry cached MAK?). If pyTivo didn't work, then your MAK is probably hosed at TiVo's servers.I've heard of this issue before with TiVo Desktop, but I don't recall what the solution was. :(

If you need to queue and download recordings, you can use Tivo Playlist (http://tivoplaylist.dyndns.org/) as a temporary alternative. If you want to transfer programs to the TiVo, there's always pyTiVo.

I've heard of this issue before with TiVo Desktop, but I don't recall what the solution was. :(

If you need to queue and download recordings, you can use Tivo Playlist (http://tivoplaylist.dyndns.org/) as a temporary alternative. If you want to transfer programs to the TiVo, there's always pyTiVo.Actually, if I want to download recordings, I can use http://<tivo_ip_addr>/nowplaying; it's tedious, but it does work. Of course, that doesn't get videos onto the TiVo, but when I capture videos, I never watch them on TiVo again.

It's not really a tragedy, inasmuch as I don't use TTG much and pretty much never use TTCB. I just want everything to work with my TiVo like before.

As noted in an earlier post, I solved the problem by simply turning on the 6020 before turning on my AV receiver. That way, the S3 retains its Native setting.

My PJ does handle all video formats. For HDCP handshake purposes, my remote is programmed to first turn on the PJ, then the Pre/Pro, and then the source. The exception is if I want to watch an HD DVD or Blu Ray, then I have the player turn on first due to the boot time of each player.

I'm going to add some delay to the remote control macro before the TiVo is re-activated from Standby Mode. Hopefully this will help in my situation, as your workaround helped in your situation. I'll report back if this workaround solves the issue for me.


Thank you all for the replies.

Anthony

NOTE: 6-9 months ago, I did not have this issue with the S3. My theory is that TiVo caused this problem with one of the software updates. I have changed Pre/Pros during this time period, so the possibility exists that the new Pre/Pro has muddied my HDCP handshake waters.

I'll say this much there is a huge delay before I get a picture when I change channels. Now I am running a optical digital cable to my receiver so that would explain why I get sound before picture, but even having the picture set at 720 Hybrid it doesn't appear to be any faster then native. I figure this is the amount of time hand shaking, OR, it could just be the way the cable cards handle signals from my cable company.

I'm not complaining, I can certainly live with it, but it's quite noticeable. Even when I start a recording there is a delay.

This applies to my S3. I don't think I've noticed it on TiVoHD, but I have a small HDTV for that and different brand. I have a 30LG37 for the S3 and a Samsung 19" HDTV running HDMI to DVI adapter and coax audio cables on that set. I keep that one at 720p Fixed.

I'm going to add some delay to the remote control macro before the TiVo is re-activated from Standby Mode.
Do you go into the Setup menu and put your TiVo in Standby before you turn off your TV? If not, the TiVo is not in standby when you turn on your TV the next time. Your TiVo is designed to stay on all the time and does unless you manually put it in Standby mode.

Do you go into the Setup menu and put your TiVo in Standby before you turn off your TV? If not, the TiVo is not in standby when you turn on your TV the next time. Your TiVo is designed to stay on all the time and does unless you manually put it in Standby mode.


For TiVo's, there is a Discreet Standby command. I have programmed the discreet standby command into my remotes. It's a one touch command so there is no need to actually go into the settings menu and select standby. With all of my remotes, when I use the Shutdown System (All Off) command, a macro ensures that each piece of A/V equipment connected to that zone (Room with A/V equip) in the house is shut down. The remotes are RF so once the Shutdown command is confirmed, there is no other action required.

When activating the system, the Projector and Pre/Pro are turned first for HDCP Handshake reasons. The TiVo awakens quickly because it's never really turned off, unlike the standby mode in most other equipment. Based on some other posters workarounds, I'm guessing the S3 needs the downstream equipment ready for the handshake. As a trial workaround, i'm going to see if I can fix the issue by re-programming some additional delay before the TiVo is awakened from Standby, allowing the PJ and Pre/Pro more boot time. This way, all downstream equipment will be ready to Handshake before the S3 is awakened.

As I think about this more, I have an HDMI 1.3a Matrix switcher and although it has discreet input and output selections, it does not allow a port to be selected until it senses a source signal. In other words, until the TiVo is sensed as active by the HDMI matrix switcher, it will not allow the S3 to be selected as a source. Even though the PJ and Pre/Pro are active before the S3, the switch may be the culprit. Some newer switchers maintain the HDMI connection with all sources simultaneously, whther the source is active or not. But why should I change HDMI switchers (a costly proposition) to fix an issue that didn't exist 6-9 months ago? I've had the HDMI Matrix switch for over a year and the S3 worked fine for a long time. Considering that my S3 hasn't always had this issue, I believe TiVo created this problem in one of their software releases. I've been reading about this at the TiVo Community forum and it turns out this is a known problem that many are plagued with.

Since the problem only happens when re-booting or coming out of Standby, I may just discontinue using the standby mode altogether. Very few circuits are actually powered off in the S3's Standby mode anyway. Considering the dozens of devices around the house that constantly draw electricity, I don't think it would be much more wasteful to simply forego using the TiVo's Standby mode and save this aggravation only for re-boots.

Since the problem only happens when re-booting or coming out of Standby, I may just discontinue using the standby mode altogether. Very few circuits are actually powered off in the S3's Standby mode anyway. Considering the dozens of devices around the house that constantly draw electricity, I don't think it would be much more wasteful to simply forego using the TiVo's Standby mode and save this aggravation only for re-boots.
I agree that simply foregoing the Standby setting when your TiVo is turned off would probably be a good idea. I have owned and operated TiVos since 2000 and have never once used the Standby setting on one of them. After all, TiVo itself tells us that TiVos are designed to stay on all the time. I also agree that you probably aren't going to pay much of a penalty in increased energy costs by foregoing Standby mode.

For TiVo's, there is a Discreet Standby command.

Where did you find the Discreet Standby Command. I have been searching for months and never found it.

Dave

Where did you find the Discreet Standby Command. I have been searching for months and never found it.
It's included with many universal remotes. Just about every TiVo device profile on a Harmony remote offers the STANDBY function.

Discrete commands are also available for LIST (recorded list) and STOP. The hex codes for the LIST command can be found in my signature.

I need it for a Pronto.

It's included with many universal remotes. Just about every TiVo device profile on a Harmony remote offers the STANDBY function.

Discrete commands are also available for LIST (recorded list) and STOP. The hex codes for the LIST command can be found in my signature.

STOP? What is that command used for??

STOP? What is that command used for??

Stop viewing recording. It's the square button. I don't think the TiVo remote has it, you have to hit TiVo if I recall correctly.

Where did you find the Discreet Standby Command. I have been searching for months and never found it.

Dave

Hi Dave,

I can only help you with the codes for URC remotes, which are also in the URC database.

BFDTV has offered the HEX codes which you can use to add the command to your Pronto.

Be forewarned, using Standby may be more aggravation than it's worth! The "LIST" command is a most useful Discreet Code.

Hi Dave,

I can only help you with the codes for URC remotes, which are also in the URC database.

BFDTV has offered the HEX codes which you can use to add the command to your Pronto. Just to clarify, I only posted the HEX codes for the "LIST" command. I don't have the HEX codes for the "STANDBY" command. If someone has them, I'll add them to the FAQ post.

Be forewarned, using Standby may be more aggravation than it's worth!
I concur.

I use standby all the time on my current seven units. No aggravation at all.
I've been using TiVos for around 8 years and putting them in standby. i've never had any problems with it. And certainly not with my current four TiVoHD and three S3 units.

I use standby all the time on my current seven units. No aggravation at all.
I've been using TiVos for around 8 years and putting them in standby. i've never had any problems with it. And certainly not with my current four TiVoHD and three S3 units.You had a Denon AVR, right?

Denon has done an excellent job with their HDMI implementation. With the Denon AVR-3808ci, none of my HDMI devices (TiVo included) ever 'forget' their resolution setting when powering off devices, using standby mode, etc. I can't say the same for some other AVRs I've had (Pioneer, Yamaha).

My Onkyo AVR hasn't had any problems handling the 4 HDMI devices I have plugged into it (TiVo directly, PS3, Xbox and HD DVD player through a switch).

Stop viewing recording. It's the square button. I don't think the TiVo remote has it, you have to hit TiVo if I recall correctly.

So it is the equivalent of pressing the left arrow while viewing a recording?

So it is the equivalent of pressing the left arrow while viewing a recording?Yes, although it's not the same IR code.

If you press stop multiple times, it won't continue going backward. It always stops at the same program info screen.

I use standby all the time on my current seven units. No aggravation at all.
I've been using TiVos for around 8 years and putting them in standby. i've never had any problems with it. And certainly not with my current four TiVoHD and three S3 units.


My TiVo HD has no issue but my S3 loses its Video Format Setting each time I put it in Standby. When I re-activate the S3 from Standby, its Video Format Changes to 1080i Fixed.

From what I've been reading at the TiVo Community Forum, this is a widespread issue for HDMI connected S3's.

Obviously the S2 TiVo's do not suffer from this issue because they have no HDMI and no Video Format settings.


"And certainly not with my current four TiVoHD and three S3 units"

Looks like you watch a lot of TV!

My TiVo HD has no issue but my S3 loses its Video Format Setting each time I put it in Standby. When I re-activate the S3 from Standby, its Video Format Changes to 1080i Fixed.

From what I've been reading at the TiVo Community Forum, this is a widespread issue for HDMI connected S3's.
As noted in earlier posts, I rarely if ever use the Standby setting on my S3 and really see no compelling reason to do so, especially if doing so contributed to the loss of my video setting. All TiVos are designed to be left on all the time so doing so certainly does them no harm. I don't know how much energy savings would be realized in a year from habitually using the Standby setting but it couldn't be very much.

I have finally figured out how to avoid the spontaneous shift of video setting from Native to 1080i Fixed. In order to avoid it happening, I simply turn on my TV, a Pioneer, Kuro 6020 several seconds before I turn on the Yamaha RX-V3900 AV receiver, which handles all of my audio and video switching via HDMI. As noted earlier, I don't use the Standby setting on the S3. Despite never being placed in Standby, though, the S3 loses its video setting unless the TV is turned on well in advance of the AV receiver.

I have adjusted the time delay settings on my Harmony 659 universal remote in an attempt to automate the process of turning on the TV well before the AV receiver but still can't get the Harmony's configuration to handle the issue. In any event, the lost video setting bug certainly seems to be the S3's problem, not that of other components.

Just to clarify, I only posted the HEX codes for the "LIST" command. I don't have the HEX codes for the "STANDBY" command. If someone has them, I'll add them to the FAQ post.

The "List" Command you have is for Remote Address (Code Set) 1

Yesterday we got 5 new HD channels. S3 got the channels fine but I had some problems with the TiVo HD. I pulled the cards and put them back in (after writing down card numbers). Called customer service and got hit for the cards during reboot. It worked.

So I go and call TiVo with the guide info thinking of michaelscott and his trials and tribulations.

By the time I went to bed my TiVoHD had guide data for all the new channels. I had the S3 check in with TiVo this morning and it came back with the guide data as well.

This is the way it should work.

The "List" Command you have is for Remote Address (Code Set) 1Does anyone have the hex codes for LIST on remote address 2?

Does anyone have the hex codes for LIST on remote address 2?

This should be it
Pronto Short Form
900A 006D 0000 0001 8530 46B2

Pronto Long Form
0000 006D 0022 0002 0155 00AA 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 0040 0016 0016 0016 0040 0016 06E0 0155 0055 0016 0E80

Dave

Since I no longer go to the TiVo Forum can one of you guys tell me what the latest versions we're running on TiVo S3 and HD? I rebooted my TiVo HD the other day and it installed a service upgrade. It say's 11.0c-C5. The S3 is running 11-0b-01.

I didn't get the usual message about an upgrade so does anyone know about this?

Edit: Successfully installed both tuner adapters today, and we don't even have SDV yet! Bring it on.

Since I no longer go to the TiVo Forum can one of you guys tell me what the latest versions we're running on TiVo S3 and HD? I rebooted my TiVo HD the other day and it installed a service upgrade. It say's 11.0c-C5. The S3 is running 11-0b-01.

I didn't get the usual message about an upgrade so does anyone know about this?

Edit: Successfully installed both tuner adapters today, and we don't even have SDV yet! Bring it on.
Hook -- I just checked and learned that my S3 is still running 11-0b-01 as of the last connection and download at 9:15 am CDT this morning.

Tell us about your tuner adapters. Can they be used with an S3 or HD to receive SDV transmissions? Are they the often discussed but elusive "dongle?" If so, is my recollection correct that these devices will not allow us to receive PPV programming?

Hook -- I just checked and learned that my S3 is still running 11-0b-01 as of the last connection and download at 9:15 am CDT this morning.

Tell us about your tuner adapters. Can they be used with an S3 or HD to receive SDV transmissions? Are they the often discussed but elusive "dongle?" If so, is my recollection correct that these devices will not allow us to receive PPV programming?

You can see what it looks like below.

As you can see it's more like a box. It does not do pay per view, it simply allows you to view channels that are SDV.

Please excuse the wires, that shelf is a mess.:)

Huh. I got 11.0c.C5 as well. I noticed that my Series3 rebooting early this morning and thought that it crashed or something. I wonder what the thrust of this update is?

Huh. I got 11.0c.C5 as well. I noticed that my Series3 rebooting early this morning and thought that it crashed or something. I wonder what the thrust of this update is?Try pause. :mad:

I can't stand the 'feature' myself. You can get rid of it by pressing down, but it will reappear the next time you press pause on a different recording.

Try pause. :mad:

I can't stand the 'feature' myself. You can get rid of it by pressing down, but it will reappear the next time you press pause on a different recording.

With all the previous discussions about the ads on Tivo I never paid attention and they never bothered me. This bothers me. This feature sucks.:mad:

I don't understand. We've always been able to pause. What are you guys talking about?

I don't understand. We've always been able to pause. What are you guys talking about?When you get home, try pause on your TiVo with the 11.0c software. You'll see.

With all the previous discussions about the ads on Tivo I never paid attention and they never bothered me. This bothers me. This feature sucks.:mad:I agree completely.

Previous advertisements were never intrusive. You didn't have to navigate around them, they didn't require any additional remote clicks to avoid. They didn't affect the way you used the DVR at all.

This is different. This degrades the pause function. For the first time, extra navigation is required to avoid this menu (which may or may not have an ad). Yes, it's only once per recording, but that's once per more recording than on other DVRs.

I just called to complain and I hope others will do the same. Phone number to complain is 877-367-8486.

I don't understand. We've always been able to pause. What are you guys talking about?

Apparently it's a feature that's on the Series2's? that's gives a text blurb about what you're watching, more info, etc. Haven't seen it myself, but there's a thread at TC about it.

When you get home, try pause on your TiVo with the 11.0c software. You'll see.

I agree completely.

Previous advertisements were never intrusive. They didn't affect the way you used the DVR. You didn't have to navigate around them, they didn't require any additional remote clicks to avoid. They didn't affect the way you used the DVR at all.

This is different. This degrades the pause function. For the first time, extra navigation is required to avoid this menu (which may or may not have an ad). Yes, it's only once per recording, but that's once per more recording than on other DVRs.

I just called to complain and I hope others will do the same.

So there's actual advertisements when you pause now? :eek:

So there's actual advertisements when you pause now? :eek:I've only see one advertisement when watching House. I'm sure more will follow.

But the rest of the time, you're stuck with a large "More About [program]" button that takes you to swivel search.

Pressing the down arrow hides this button (or an advertisement below, if there is one) when you pause the program again. But this behavior is reset for every program, meaning you have to press the down arrow again when you watch something new.

I've only see one advertisement when watching House. I'm sure more will follow.

But the rest of the time, you're stuck with a large "More About [program]" button that takes you to swivel search.

Pressing the down arrow hides this menu, such you no longer see this button (or an advertisement below, if there is one) when you pause the program again. But this behavior is reset for every program, meaning you have to press the down arrow again when you watch something new.

Wow, not looking forward to that, should have a switch to turn it off.

What's next, an ad automatically stops any FFW or skipping for a prescribed time period before continuing?

I watched something on my TiVo HD last night after the "upgrade" but I don't recall if I paused at anytime.

When you get home, try pause on your TiVo with the 11.0c software. You'll see.I've tried pausing in recordings and on several live channels and haven't seen this yet.Previous advertisements were never intrusive. They didn't affect the way you used the DVR. You didn't have to navigate around them, they didn't require any additional remote clicks to avoid. They didn't affect the way you used the DVR at all.

This is different. This degrades the pause function. For the first time, extra navigation is required to avoid this menu (which may or may not have an ad). Yes, it's only once per recording, but that's once per more recording than on other DVRs.Huh. My understanding of the way that it worked on Series2 was that the PAUSE and PLAY buttons still worked to continue playback and get rid of the menu. I'll wait until I experience one before I pass judgement on it.

I've tried pausing in recordings and on several live channels and haven't seen this yet.Huh. My understanding of the way that it worked on Series2 was that the PAUSE and PLAY buttons still worked to continue playback and get rid of the menu. I'll wait until I experience one before I pass judgement on it.The menu disappears when you press play, of course.

You just need to press a button if you want to hide the menu during pause. If you only pause to answer the phone or use the bathroom, then I doubt it will bother you. On the other hand, if you pause to check out a scene, or pause to discuss a scene with family members, it's a distraction.

I'm going upstairs and will try it right now.

Well I tried it and yes, I see "If you want to know more about law & order message.

So I wanted to see what happens when I pressed it. Now I'm looking at a friggin please wait and I think I'm going to have to pull the friggin plug to get out of it.

Do not press that button, whatever you do. Just take it off pause.

Well I tried it and yes, I see "If you want to know more about law & order message.

So I wanted to see what happens when I pressed it. Now I'm looking at a friggin please wait and I think I'm going to have to pull the friggin plug to get out of it.

Do not press that button, whatever you do. Just take it off pause.Just curious...do you connect with a phone line or broadband? If the TiVo servers are slow, press the TiVo button; no need to pull the plug.

..................
Pressing the down arrow hides this button (or an advertisement below, if there is one) when you pause the program again. But this behavior is reset for every program, meaning you have to press the down arrow again when you watch something new.

Thanks for the tip. And I did call. Hope it makes a difference.

Just curious...do you connect with a phone line or broadband? If the TiVo servers are slow, press the TiVo button; no need to pull the plug.

I have a wireless network and high speed cable. However you may be on to something.

Earlier I had to move my adapter to a different spot because apparently the tuner adapter was doing something that interfered with communication between my S3 and PC. This one is in a different spot but it may have had something to do with it.

After reboot, it locked up on me when I told it to go to live TV so I'm rebooting again. What a mess.

Okay--I just tried it while playing back a recording of Life. I didn't get an ad, but I got a "More about Life" option. PLAY and PAUSE work just fine, and CLEAR makes that and the timeline go away, just as it always made the timeline go away. I tried selecting "More about Life" and got the Swivel Search page for it--when I hit LEFT-ARROW, it went back to the paused video.

It doesn't change the way that I use TiVo and I'm not offended by it anymore than any of the other advertising, so I won't be calling to complain.

................ I'm not offended by it anymore than any of the other advertising, so I won't be calling to complain.

Hopefully I'll feel the same tomorrow.

Okay--I just tried it while playing back a recording of Life. I didn't get an ad, but I got a "More about Life" option. PLAY and PAUSE work just fine, and CLEAR makes that and the timeline go away, just as it always made the timeline go away. I tried selecting "More about Life" and got the Swivel Search page for it--when I hit LEFT-ARROW, it went back to the paused video.

It doesn't change the way that I use TiVo and I'm not offended by it anymore than any of the other advertising, so I won't be calling to complain.

Well, I'm certainly not upset by this thing to me it's not a big deal. Locking up my TiVo, well, that just convinces me never to use the darn thing.

Finally got the TiVo HD up and running proper.

Locking up my TiVo, well, that just convinces me never to use the darn thing.I suspect that the guy whose TiVo locked up when selected the "More about..." option would have locked up had he choosen "Explore this Program" on the recording's description page at that time.

I suspect that the guy whose TiVo locked up when selected the "More about..." option would have locked up had he choosen "Explore this Program" on the recording's description page at that time.

What, your saying I can't push a button properly?:D;)

What, your saying I can't push a button properly?:D;)Sorry--I didn't realize that was you :). Does your TiVo hang up when you choose the "Explore this Program" option from the recording's description?

Sorry--I didn't realize that was you :). Does your TiVo hang up when you choose the "Explore this Program" option from the recording's description?

No it never had a problem. Do you think the tuner resolver could somehow interfere with my network adapter? I had my S3's on the same shelf and until I moved it I couldn't set it to see my PC or HD tivo. I'm wondering if the same thing happened with my tivo HD and that's why it locked up.

No it never had a problem.What I meant was that "Explore this Program" probably would have hung at the time when you pressed the "More about ..." button. Maybe it was a fluke. I wouldn't make any assumptions without trying it some more. I've done it several times, and it just goes to a swivel search page, just like selecting "Explore this Program" does from the recording description.
Do you think the tuner resolver could somehow interfere with my network adapter? I had my S3's on the same shelf and until I moved it I couldn't set it to see my PC or HD tivo. I'm wondering if the same thing happened with my tivo HD and that's why it locked up.I doubt it, but anything's possible I suppose. My TA is definitely screwing with reception of channels in the QAM at 525 MHz if I split a cable between it and TiVo--other's have reported interference on other bands. It's possible that it's interfering with the bandwidths used by your cable modem, if the cable modem is on a split of the same line.

With all the previous discussions about the ads on Tivo I never paid attention and they never bothered me. This bothers me. This feature sucks.:mad:
My goodness, you would think that...

http://i87.photobucket.com/albums/k137/Bierboy/chickenlittle.jpg

Get over it, people.

I think sometimes folks forget that these companies are in it for the money; they're not buddies of ours doing it just for the fun of it.

I think sometimes folks forget that these companies are in it for the money; they're not buddies of ours doing it just for the fun of it.
True, very true. I watched my tivo last night and I didn't even use the pause. And Bicker is right. Tivo needs to be profitable or will all be stuck with pos cable boxes.

True, very true. I watched my tivo last night and I didn't even use the pause. And Bicker is right. Tivo needs to be profitable or will all be stuck with pos cable boxes.

True enough. TiVo's gotta make money to stay afloat (even though they've still got $100M's in the bank -- thanks to EchoStar).

What I do take exception to is the implementation of this "feature". TiVo's ad insertions to this point were fairly innocuous, and (from a certain point of view) were integrated well into the basic TiVo control system (gold stars, showcases, etc). The ads were placed in existing menus, basically, and could be ignored.

This pause "menu", however, is quite different. They're obscuring a significant portion of on-screen content in order to flash an ad, which of course is the primary purpose of this "menu". The remainder of the "menu" is an afterthought, and a weak attempt to try to wrap some functionality around this ad as an excuse for it's existence. Contrary to previous function, the ads are now the focus of the function. Which sucks.

True enough. TiVo's gotta make money to stay afloat (even though they've still got $100M's in the bank -- thanks to EchoStar).

What I do take exception to is the implementation of this "feature". TiVo's ad insertions to this point were fairly innocuous, and (from a certain point of view) were integrated well into the basic TiVo control system (gold stars, showcases, etc). The ads were placed in existing menus, basically, and could be ignored.

This pause "menu", however, is quite different. They're obscuring a significant portion of on-screen content in order to flash an ad, which of course is the primary purpose of this "menu". The remainder of the "menu" is an afterthought, and a weak attempt to try to wrap some functionality around this ad as an excuse for it's existence. Contrary to previous function, the ads are now the focus of the function. Which sucks.

I guess I can't really comment how I feel about it until I see one of these advertisements, which I haven't yet.

I think they could have avoided the "service upgrade" message I got when I rebooted my TiVo HD. This in no way is an upgrade.

I think the existence of lifetime service subscriptions really limits TiVo's flexibility in this regard. Otherwise, they could just account for their financial concerns by periodically increasing the fee. That's one reason why cable companies are more easily able to do, financially, what TiVo has struggled to. I'm still not convinced that there is a long-term-viable business case for a stand-alone DVR device. I think such viability would require ditching the current service model -- in other words, no promise whatsoever that the sucker would work beyond 90 days; you get your program guide data from somewhere else and don't bother us if you can't; we support CableCARD per spec, as verified in our lab, and if you cannot get it to work in your home, that's your problem. In other words -- the standard Microsoft Office application consumer support model.

I think the existence of lifetime service subscriptions really limits TiVo's flexibility in this regard. Otherwise, they could just account for their financial concerns by periodically increasing the fee. That's one reason why cable companies are more easily able to do, financially, what TiVo has struggled to. I'm still not convinced that there is a long-term-viable business case for a stand-alone DVR device. I think such viability would require ditching the current service model -- in other words, no promise whatsoever that the sucker would work beyond 90 days; you get your program guide data from somewhere else and don't bother us if you can't; we support CableCARD per spec, as verified in our lab, and if you cannot get it to work in your home, that's your problem. In other words -- the standard Microsoft Office application consumer support model.

I tend to agree that their existing business model can't sustain over the long term. The cable and sat guys are rolling out their own boxes, and their subs tend to stick with the service provider....ummm....provided gear rather than go 3rd party.

However, if there were able to wrap up a signficant amount of deals with service providers, they could go software-only and cut their costs significantly.

And we viewers would be stuck with really powerful software running on middle-of-the-road hardware. We've seen how well that's worked out in the past. However, it is unreasonable to expect better, while so few people are willing to pay enough of a premium for better.

This bothers me. This feature sucks.:mad:

This is different. This degrades the pause function. For the first time, extra navigation is required to avoid this menu (which may or may not have an ad). Yes, it's only once per recording, but that's once per more recording than on other DVRs.

I just called to complain and I hope others will do the same. Phone number to complain is 877-367-8486.

TiVo has a history of doing things its way while calling itself an enabler of watching TV your way. Personally I find ads annoying, but realize that TiVo hasn't yet been able to make DVR service profitable. TiVo is still the most reliable kid on the block, both to be annoying at times and to work good, like a DVR should! :p

Good luck regarding getting TiVo to change!

And we viewers would be stuck with really powerful software running on middle-of-the-road hardware. We've seen how well that's worked out in the past. However, it is unreasonable to expect better, while so few people are willing to pay enough of a premium for better.Not necessarily true. I know that TiVo has been moving the TiVo-flavored guide that they wrote for Comcast to tru2way (they've been at that for so long, I'd assume that it was complete). The OCAP version of their guide could be run on any arbitrarily powerful piece of hardware. I'm fairly certain that all of the tru2way boxes which are about to hit the market have processors which are quite a bit faster than TiVo's with newer, more capable video chips. The companies making those boxes can subsidize the retail versions with massive sales to cable providers.

Of course, you aren't likely to get any of TiVo's connected features in the OCAP version that cable providers make available. To perpetuate the full "TiVo Experience", TiVo will have to continue to make and sell their own boxes.

This pause "menu", however, is quite different. They're obscuring a significant portion of on-screen content in order to flash an ad, which of course is the primary purpose of this "menu". The remainder of the "menu" is an afterthought, and a weak attempt to try to wrap some functionality around this ad as an excuse for it's existence. Contrary to previous function, the ads are now the focus of the function. Which sucks.I never pause in order to see something without pressing CLEAR to get rid of the time bar, which is always a distraction when I'm trying to examine something. If I pause in order to get up and do something elsewhere, it's not an issue, and it will have timed out and disappeared by the time I return in any case.

I know that we all use TiVo in different ways and this will be more annoying to some people than to others. So far, it hasn't bothered me at all (though, like hook, I still haven't seen an ad).

I tend to agree that their existing business model can't sustain over the long term. The cable and sat guys are rolling out their own boxes, and their subs tend to stick with the service provider....ummm....provided gear rather than go 3rd party.You know that Digeo has launched a retail Moxi DVR (http://moxi.com/us/home.html) with lifetime-service-only and a promise of no ads in the GUIs. It will be interesting to see if that will earn them any profit in the long run.

I think the existence of lifetime service subscriptions really limits TiVo's flexibility in this regard. Otherwise, they could just account for their financial concerns by periodically increasing the fee. That's one reason why cable companies are more easily able to do, financially, what TiVo has struggled to. I'm still not convinced that there is a long-term-viable business case for a stand-alone DVR device. I think such viability would require ditching the current service model -- in other words, no promise whatsoever that the sucker would work beyond 90 days; you get your program guide data from somewhere else and don't bother us if you can't; we support CableCARD per spec, as verified in our lab, and if you cannot get it to work in your home, that's your problem. In other words -- the standard Microsoft Office application consumer support model.
It seems to me that whether the future business climate will leave room for TiVo remains to be seen. It will primarily turn on two factors, I think:

(1) The ability of TiVo and its cable and satellite provider partners to roll out software that will really work on provider owned boxes. So far, Tivo's initial effort with Comcast in New England has apparently not been very encouraging.

(2) Whether cable and satellite providers can offer software for their rental boxes that is even close to TiVo's quality. Even if the current TiVo HD were not so competitive with Cox OKC's company owned SA 8300HD boxes, equipped with the Truly awful SARA software, for example, TiVo would still have a chance to get the business, even at something of a premium. That will almost certainly change, though. Many potential improvements are on the horizon, including Tru2way.

What this says to me is that neither we nor TiVo are really going to know whether TiVo can survive until we know more about future developments in the industry.

I'm fairly certain that all of the tru2way boxes which are about to hit the market have processors which are quite a bit faster than TiVo's with newer, more capable video chips. The companies making those boxes can subsidize the retail versions with massive sales to cable providers.I'll believe that the companies making those boxes will be willing to sell to the general public when I see it.

It seems to me that whether the future business climate will leave room for TiVo remains to be seen. It will primarily turn on two factors, I think:

(1) The ability of TiVo and its cable and satellite provider partners to roll out software that will really work on provider owned boxes. So far, Tivo's initial effort with Comcast in New England has apparently not been very encouraging.

(2) Whether cable and satellite providers can offer software for their rental boxes that is even close to TiVo's quality. Even if the current TiVo HD were not so competitive with Cox OKC's company owned SA 8300HD boxes, equipped with the Truly awful SARA software, for example, TiVo would still have a chance to get the business, even at something of a premium. That will almost certainly change, though. Many potential improvements are on the horizon, including Tru2way.

What this says to me is that neither we nor TiVo are really going to know whether TiVo can survive until we know more about future developments in the industry.

We start SDV on 4/9. We will be using SARA it appears. If you can believe that.

I looked at the diagnostic screen for the tuner adapters, and sure enough they say SARA on them. However running SARA for viewing alone seems to be OK, it's using that software on a DVR that seems to be the problem.

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

Can I permanently hide the progress bar for pause?

Yes. There is a "quick-hide" code that will briefly show and then hide the progress bar whenever you pause. To enable this behavior, enter SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-PAUSE-SELECT while watching a recording.

If you have the 11.0c software with the pause menu, then you need to pause a recording, press the down arrow to hide the "More About.." box, and then press play again. After you've done that, enter the SELECT-PLAY-SELECT-PAUSE-SELECT code.

To disable this behavior on pause, enter the same code a second time while watching a recording.For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.

Great find, thanks!

We start SDV on 4/9. We will be using SARA it appears. If you can believe that.

I looked at the diagnostic screen for the tuner adapters, and sure enough they say SARA on them. However running SARA for viewing alone seems to be OK, it's using that software on a DVR that seems to be the problem.
Man, that stinks! I have had no particular complaints about SARA's reliability. Nevertheless, its brutally deficient and hard to use search features, coupled with its lack of a 30 second skip function make me HATE it!

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.

Thanks, went upstairs and used it immediately and it worked.

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.Very, very cool. The new pause menu thing wasn't bothering me much, but I've always hated how long the time bar hangs around during pauses. I never need it in that situation--if I wanted to know how far into the show or recording that I was, I'd just press PLAY.

Does the setting survive reboots, like S-P-S-3-0-S?

EDIT: BTW, cool formatting in that FAQ. When the hell were the [jumpto]/[aname] BB code tags added?

I wasn't aware of that tweak either, very cool indeed, thanks.

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.

If we have the 11.0b still and we use that code will it stick if your TiVo gets the "upgrade?"

If we have the 11.0b still and we use that code will it stick if your TiVo gets the "upgrade?"I'm not sure. This code didn't stick after reboot under older software versions, but that may have changed (as it did for 30sec skip).

Does the setting survive reboots, like S-P-S-3-0-S?I just checked this and the answer is, unfortunately, "No". Oh well--I lived for years having to re-enable S-P-S-3-0-S after every reboot.

You know that Digeo has launched a retail Moxi DVR (http://moxi.com/us/home.html) with lifetime-service-only and a promise of no ads in the GUIs. It will be interesting to see if that will earn them any profit in the long run.

Yeah, bicker1 made me aware recently that they've FINALLY managed to ship a device. :) Too bad they started working on it when that business model actually made sense (5+ years ago). They're in even worse shape than TiVo is. At least TiVo has an established name brand, a significant install base and some court-verified IP. Moxi has none. They're cooked.

I added several items to the Using TiVo (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=11126048&postcount=2#A2) section in the TivoHD FAQ, including:

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.


Outstanding! A great find! Thanks!

For those that don't like the pause menu, this will hide it.But it will also hide the progress bar. :(

But it will also hide the progress bar. :(Yes, it's not perfect. It would help if trickplay sounds worked on DD channels.

You can always press play to show the progress bar, however.

EDIT: BTW, cool formatting in that FAQ. When the hell were the [jumpto]/[aname] BB code tags added?I'm not sure exactly when it was added to AVS -- maybe last summer?

Most forums (including TCF) still haven't implemented that feature.

TiVo has a history of doing things its way while calling itself an enabler of watching TV your way.

For sure, but on the other hand, that business model has worked very well for Apple.

I have a confession. I watch pro wrestling. Not WWE, I watch TNA on Spike.

I've had a season pass for probably a year now. I noticed last Thursdays was not recorded. I thought probably a conflict, it will record it on Saturday.

So I took a look today and no recording. I check my To Do List and I see the "not recorded because of 28 day rule." Huh, that never happened. So I look at the SP and it says "No upcoming episodes."

Now I know this is wrong so I check the guide and sure enough there it is on Thursday at 9:00 pm. Even if it was a repeat, or had guide data saying it was a repeat it still should have shown me upcoming episodes.

I tell it to record this episode and go back to my SP. Still no recordings listed. I do a search by name and it finds it right away. I created a second SP and now it seems fine.

So, one of you guys that are tech geniuses tell me what happened here? Why would the SP just stop working? This is the crap I got from the SA 8300 and I've never seen this before with TiVo.