The Official AVS TiVo "Series4" Premiere topic - Page 66

Have you read the big black & white ad from Rovi on your guide? Go to the DHG thread and make the same post.
Edited by JoeKustra - 12/18/12 at 5:19pm

This is currently now available on my XL4 & 320GB Premiere.

Hello Tivoans, another lost Sony DHGer here. I see a lot of familiar faces. Just lurking and learning all things Tivo. My 3 DHGs are all humming fine, like the workhorses they are. They are/were the perfect DVRs for my uses. Sony spoiled me for 6-7 years. Unbelievable how these bricks-to-be just chugged along for years.

My questions on Tivo is how/what they tune that my local TWarner spews out, and OTA. TW uses a lost of switched content if that is the term. they were no longer friendly to my DHGs but I easily got along fine on my own. I just use 75ch cable out the wall and OTA but am not against adding some digital content from TW if easy and affordable. Will keep reading.

Well, eager to get Tivoed up so I can have a plan when I get de-TVGOSed.
Edited by gigaguy - 12/18/12 at 8:08pm

As Long as you are paying for TW Cable you should take advantage of the CableCARD and SDV Tuning Adapter, It will get you all the HD channels you subscribe to, which depending on your TV package could be 50 to over 100 channels, you will not get any TWC Digital or HD channels with Guide Data without a CableCARD and Tuning Adapter. Self-Install is free and they should be available at your local TWC store.

The CableCARD is only $2/mo and the SDV Tuning Adapter is Free.

Actually, there is a really good reason NOT to add the CableCard and Tuning Adapter to get switched digital channels if you are not already set up that way - relative loss of stability and the loss of recordings.

I made that same jump a few years ago when some of the channels I used to watch jumped into the switched digital tier (I think it was Comedy Central HD or SciFi HD, not sure though)

It works fine 99%+ of the time - but it does have problems. And when it has problems those problems manifest on *ALL* the channels I get via the CC/TA combo, not just the ones only available via the CC/TA combo.

Two Scenarios:

(1) Today you get Channel A without the CC/TA via the basic analog package, but you do not get Channel B at all (it is only available via Switched Digital Tiers). You have zero technical issues related the CC/TA setup, so you never miss a recording on Channel A.
(2) You add the CC/TA equipment to your setup. Now you get Channel A as well as Channel B via the CC/TA equipment. If you have any technical issues related the CC/TA setup, you miss recordings on both Channel A and Channel B.

You have to ask yourself if the recordings you are happy getting without problem today are worth losing, even rarely, in order to be able to get channels that are so unimportant to you that you don't even miss them today. The answer, obviously, depends on how often you have technical issues. In my case - it is every month, and often more frequently than that, that I must reboot the TA unit to get my channels to come in correctly. And if I am not around the house when the need arises then all the scheduled recordings from that period in time do not happen - either a blank recording or a note in the recording history stating "channel not available" at the time the recording was being made.

I come home once a month to a mad wife asking why Survivor did not record. When I balance my check book there are $3.24 and $2.15 iTunes charges for downloading shows (Survivor!) that were missed and needed to be found elsewhere. There are kids who want their shows and are too young to hear "the Tuning Adapter" lost sync. And there are numerous people who ask "I thought you said Tivo was the better DVR? Why are you always asking me if I have a copy of shows you might borrow?"

For our Colorado cabin the Series 3 box with OTA antenna is the best, I would not trade it for anything. But here in Austin the addition of CableCards and Tuning Adapters to a good setup has resulted in years of intermittent issues, just enough of them to make you wonder why you got that stuff to start with.

I posted this in the Minneapolis-Comcast thread and didnt hear anything so I guess I'll ask here since I am looking at possibly getting a Tivo

The apartment complex I live in has free lifeline cable (Comcast). Everything above lifeline requires a box. When I hook up my HDTV and do a scan it works fine. Get 2-23 in analog and then the digital channels in QAM. The networks remap to what they are if I had an antenna (2-1,2-2,2-3,4-1,5-1 etc)...Here is my question

If I get a Tivo to record stuff will I have guide info on those channels without a cable card (since the lifeline is bulk rate they wont give me a cable card unless I subbed to an actual higher up package)? On both my HDTV's anything that I would call a "network channel" does have guide info. I'm talking 2,4,5,9,11,23,29,41 and any subchannel. The other channels in QAM like TBS, CNN, public access there is no guide info because it doesnt know that 115-50 is CNN or 93-15 is Public Access

But would the Tivo get guide info for the networks that map to what they are OTA? Like 2-1, 5-2, 11-1, 23-1 etc? Or will it show no guide info and I'd almost be better off trying to use an antenna since that would have guide info?

So for that <1% of the time, chance of a malfunction, you would prefer to have only standard definition analog recordings (analog, 4:3, SD, 480i) limited to just the basic tier, over the Full HD recordings (digital, 16:9, HD, 720p/1080i) on multiple tiers and premium channels?

I find that if I just reboot the Tuning Adapter and the TiVo every 3 weeks I do not have any malfunctions, The Tuning Adapter gets a subscription lease that has an expiration date/time, and should renew automatically like a DHCP IP Address, sometime this does not happen. But if you reboot the Tuning Adapter every three weeks that lease gets manually renewed.

May I ask which model Premiere you are using?

You would be better off using an antenna. Without a cable card the QAM channels won't be mapped properly. And if they aren't mapped properly you won't get the guide info.

Maybe it will work, I've heard that it doesn't plus some cable companies tend to move the frequencies around for the local channels. So without the cable card the TiVo has no way to know where they are.

Using a TiVo on a cable system without a cable card is not pretty. It will display an error message frequently about missing information. Also, does your HDTV have information on those basic cable channels like TNT & CNN? Likely not, since cable only networks don't usually have PSIP data. And an antenna will not even give you CNN, TBS and those other channels. Your broadcast channels probably have the PSIP data intact which is why your TV shows them on the same channel as an antenna. Like aaronwt said, cable companies can put channels anywhere.

As I noted in my post they don't
The other channels in QAM like TBS, CNN, public access there is no guide info because it doesnt know that 115-50 is CNN or 93-15 is Public Access I wasnt worried about getting CNN, TBS or WGN. Those are really the only "extra" channels with lifeline here. The rest are church, shopping and Public Access ones
I basically wanted to record the networks and mainly MeTV and AntennaTV

Might have to try the antenna route

Thanks for the info. I know Comcast hasnt moved the networks around in a while (at least here in the SW Suburbs)...the "extra" channels like public access and shopping channels they have moved around. But I havent seen any posts in the Mpls-Comcast thread that says they moved channels around

New Tivo owner here. I have a question. I'm thinking of getting a second tivo on main tv. How hard is it to reprogram the remote ? Also if I have season pass and three shows are at the same time will the season pass move to the second dvr? Season pass is neat but it has already recorded same episodes even it is clearly setup for new episodes only in the manager.

Thanks
SS-Stingray

If you have 2 Premiere's then you have to get one of the older remotes (from a Tivo HD) which has the "1-2" switch on it to be able to use it for 2 tivos. The Premiere remote can only control one tivo, so you would have to use a seprrate remote for each tivo. The Tivo HD remote doesn't have the A-B-C-D buttons but I never use them.

The 2 tivos don't know anything about each others programming, so you need tto put 2 shows on one tivo and the 3rd on the other.

I can live with 99% accurate. I record The Daily Show which isn't daily and Jimmy Fallon and it handles those OK. Sometimes get a repeat. Often the guide displays "NEW" when that is not true. But is it the fault of the TiVo or that of Tribune that feeds the guide? Who knows. I have never missed a season pass episode. I don't know if the guide "NEW" is significant either. But the holidays are a chaos for schedules. Next week isn't any better.

The HD season pass manager is a good improvement also.

For recording the Daily Show and others that repeat often, this is recommended (copy/paste from the TiVo owners FAQ, item 25):


Use the "Tupper Method" to eliminate repeats of certain programs with bad guide data.

A few shows like The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, Big Brother, and The Tonight Show don't always provide good guide data for their re-runs. These re-runs lack episode titles and they use generic descriptions. Without good guide data, a TiVo series recording can't determine whether these are new or repeats, so it "plays it safe" and records them all.

To get around this, one used to create a repeating manual recording for a specific timeslot (ex: M-F @ 11:00pm). Manual recordings show up with program information, and they are folderized and prioritized just like any season pass. You can still do that, but new functionality added in the 9.1 software provides a more elegant solution. Here's how:

Create a new WishList under Find Programs -> Wishlists.
Enter the show title as a single Title Keyword (ex: Daily Show with Jon Stewart)
Enter all or part of the generic program description as a single Keyword (ex: A humorous slant).
Select this keyword and press thumbs up/down to mark it with a minus sign (ex: -A humorous slant).
Set the WishList to Auto Record with "First run only".

This will record all new episodes and ignore the repeat episodes with generic guide data. It replaces the season pass for the show. Examples:

Amazing Race
Title Keyword: Amazing Race*
Keyword: -Eleven Teams Of Two Travel The Globe
Keyword: -Reality Remix
Category: Interests:Reality

Colbert Report
Title Keyword: Colbert Report
Keyword: -Discuss current issues

Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Title Keyword: Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Keyword: -A humorous slant

Late Night
Title Keyword: Late Night
Keyword: -Interviews and comedy sketches

Oprah
Title Keyword: Oprah
Keyword: -Oprah discusses topics

Starter Wife
Title Keyword: Starter Wife
Keyword: -A woman struggles

Survivor
Title Keyword: Survivor*
Keyword: -I SHOULDN*T BE ALIVE
Category: Interests:Reality

If you want to always ensure that you get a HD version when available, remove (uncheck) the SD version of the appropriate channels from Settings -> Channels -> Channels List.

Note: Don't forget to remove your old season pass for the show from Season Pass Manager.

Full credit to Martin Tupper for this tip.

Thank you. I've seen that before. I can understand the need, but let's say you want to record Anderson Cooper 360 tonight on CNN. It has a generic description. My guide shows that the 8pm (EST) show is "new" and it shows the 10pm show is also "new". Both TVGuide.com and TitanTV.com indicate that the 10pm show is a repeat. If I try to enable a season pass for the 8pm show (new only), I get a conflict on the 10pm show. This might be a bad example, but it does show that nothing is perfect.

Honestly, I'm impressed that any extended EPG works. The maintenance needed to keep the various databases up to date must be enormous. I guess that's why Rovi dropped the "free" 8-day TVGOS guide.

I looked at Anderson Cooper 360 via iPad app, and you are right, it looks like they only do generic descriptions. I guess they don't book guests on that show? Anyway, the 8pm show listed as New, but the 10pm isn't. So if your season pass is new-only, the 10pm repeat shouldn't record.

Is this the case?

Both 8pm and 10pm are shown as "new" on my guide. I have two shows already schedule for 10pm. If I try to get a Season Pass for the 8pm show (with "new" only), I get a conflict message at 10:30pm. Maybe it's a local cable issue. Nothing to worry about since I don't watch that show often anyhow. I also have a "new" on MSNBC for The Ed Show at 11pm but it's a repeat.

News shows don't usually list guests but they do list a "first aired" date and that is not always correct. Speculation: a "new" show that repeats on the same day may be the problem for my listings since The Daily Show has several repeats on the following day that are (usually) never marked as "new".

If you can network the two TiVo's there is no reason for them to be co-located. You can put the second TiVo on a TV in another room. The recording list for each TiVo will appear in the playlist of the other. You can set up season passes on the second TiVo in another room and play them through your main TiVo over the network.

Been watching the Tim Tebow commercials and at the end it says TiVo is sold at Walmart. Ever go to walmart.com and do a search for "tivo"? I thought only Sam's Club sold them.

Are you sure they say you can buy a "TiVo" at walmart and not "Tebo".
The Jets might have tried that first.

^^^^
That's good.

If you don't care about Off Air, get the TiVo with 4 Tuners. 4 Tuner TiVo cannot recieve Off Air. That very issue has kept me from uprading.

Basic TIVO question: I have both a DTVPal and CM-7000 DVR for over-the-air (no cable whatsoever) recording. Now that TV Guide is going away for those units, it may be time to change to an OTA DVR with an accessible guide. I read the specs at the beginning of this thread. Does the TIVO guide only get downloaded through wireless internet or phone line or something? My current DVR's get the data through the antenna somehow. We don't normally broadcast internet through the home 24-7, only when we hook up the laptop to the TV to watch something. So would I have to keep the wireless on constantly, just to use the TIVO guide? And if so, is that also the case for other versions of OTA TIVO's (I think there's a TIVO 3 or something from years past, but I'm very new to the TIVO world.) Thanks!!!

Katie

TiVo has a telephone option to access the data but I can't find a price. The wireless internet adaptor is also extra cost. You can connect to your router with a CAT5 cable. That assumes you mean WiFi and not internet access. Maybe you could disconnect the antenna? I guess asking why you turn off the WiFi would be the first step.

BTW, TVGOS is "inserted" into the broadcast signal by your station. PBS (WGTV or WPBA) are the first to die. If you can get WSB (ABC), it might still have the guide. PBS has been sending their inserters back to Rovi. CBS O&O should be the last to go but there have been exceptions. WGCL is not listed as a carrier of TVGOS.

I can't point to an alternative to the TiVo, OTA or cable, that can replace your current devices. If I could I would.
Edited by JoeKustra - 12/27/12 at 9:40am

If you have a land line and don't need to stream things to your Tivo then I'd just purchase one of the phone line adapters(I think ~$50) or if you purchased a used Series 3 or Tivo HD(like I have) the adapter would be build in. I've been using this method for 3+ years and have never had a issue. It automatically dials out once ~ every 30 hours and is generally only on the phone for a minute or two. Large upgrades may take 10-20 minutes but they are few and far behind. If you are on the phone or pick up while Tivo is downloading Tivo just disconnects and tries at a later time. I believe the number Tivo calls is local to your area, that or it's a toll free, either way I've never been charged long distance.
The only system to use OTA to get it's guide was TVGOS which as you know is gone or at the least will only be around for a few more months

If your OK just disabling "wireless" for your router you could do as Joe suggested, run a hard wire from your router to Tivo and just disconnect the antenna when you don't want people to have access to your wireless internet connection. I'm not positive but I'd think with the antenna disconnected you'd have to be inches away from the router to pick anything up. I'm not positive, maybe someone else knows for sure. If just disconnecting the antenna didn't work maybe they make a SMS terminating resistor that would attenuate the signal?? Of course this is assuming your wireless router has a external antenna, if not that would complicate the matter.

I'm a new TiVo'er over from the DHG-HDD thread. There's some talk over there about backing up your TiVo hard drive just in case it dies in the future. Is there an easy way to do that without dismantling the TiVo and attaching to a PC? Or maybe, you don't have to image the new disc because all the "smarts" in the TiVo are in firmware? So far am impressed with the TiVo, but it's got some idiosyncrasies I haven't figured out yet.

Thanks.

If you have space on a PC you can transfer shows over your network using the Desktop program. And back of course. This assumes your units are on the same network. I have a laptop I seldom use so I added a WD FreeAgent 1TB USB drive to hold stuff. Works well.

Thank you very much for the information. The reason we don't keep the router on all the time is that we rarely use wireless inside the home, just hard wired DSL in a different room from the TV, so I don't see the benefit of having it on all the time. But using the telephone line would be a great option. I think our TVGOS comes from Channel 2 here in Atlanta, and we still have it. I just know it's going away some time before April (I wrote to ROVI and they said, once it's gone, it's not coming back, and they have no intention of continuing it. Fun guys.) I know my unit will keep working, even without the guide, but it's not going to be as useful. I can program it like a dumb VCR, that's no problem, but I have really enjoyed the on-screen guide a week out. I will definitely consider the TIVO next time. Thanks again!