The Official AVS TiVo "Series4" Premiere topic - Page 77

Tivo Desktop cannot transfer shows to a PC without workarounds since Feb 16.

Shortly after it stopped working (under 48 hours) I was able to transfer shows again. No date change needed. I never paid for this application, so I got more than my money's worth.

I was rather mad about being asked for a screen shot of the problem from TiVo support. It made me feel like they never tried to duplicate the problem and they wanted me to do their job. But, like I said, it's free.

Are millions of people actually using TiVo Desktop? or is it thousands?

While we're on the subject of TiVo Desktop, I'm seeing flaky behavior that doesn't seem like it could be related to the "stale cookie" issue. Several weeks ago I downloaded Desktop just to test it out; I'm not really using it yet. About every other day it "disappears" from my Premiere. My PC is not listed in My Shows and it's gone from Music/Photos as well. The next day it will be back. When it's gone, the server is running okay on my PC and the Desktop can see my TiVo and list all the recordings. Is the software really this flaky? Does anyone have an idea why this happens? I couldn't find anything in the TiVo support/help areas.

I'm using it on a Win7 laptop feeding a 1TB FreeAgent. I only turn the laptop on when testing something or doing a transfer. The TiVo icon on the laptop taskbar goes "happy" when the network feed is established. The TiVo is wireless and the laptop is wired. I have never had any connection issues except the cookie thing, but I never left it run very long. I found the cookie solution at http://forums.tivo.com/pe/elementDisplayRedirect.jsp?elementID=10157334

That's where I found the fix and it has more participants than here. Also, the http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=67 is another place to post.

Missing Schedules:

On the TiVo Grid I am missing the last 4 days of program listings for ALL channels. I first noticed this about 4 days ago. Is this a common thing? Is there anything to check to make sure it is A-OK?

Under Account & System Information - System Information, are all the dates today?

Houston & Possum -

I think both of you have issues with your home network. The TiVo is temporarily losing communication. Are you hardwired or wireless?

I have a wired network. If it were a network issue, how come the TiVo can't see the PC at the same time the PC can see the TiVo just fine? Right now it's just a curiosity thing since I've no need to use Desktop, but if I ever do it could get irritating fast.

Edit: I just did an experiment. The TiVo was not "seeing" the PC. Went to the computer and paused the server for a minute, then resumed it. The PC immediately showed up on the TiVo. Bizarre.
Edited by Possumgirl - 2/24/13 at 2:33pm

Just speculation, but I would see if the IP address on your PC is changing. It could be as simple as a DHCP expiration problem. Just a guess remember.

The TiVo is hard wired, with only the basic encryption firewall in the router. The computers connected, one is hardwired the others are wireless, with pretty good security yada yada.

I checked the TiVo diagnostics and it says it is connecting fine and getting it’s downloads about once or twice a day.

I also checked the MAC address between TiVo and the router and they match.

It did get 3 more days of “programs” late today, so now the only thing missing is after 6PM 2 Sundays away – March 10.

Now there is one thing I did find while hunting. It’s all about the new super duper computer. It has an open wifi and Bluetooth; and I found a neighbor’s HTC phone attempting to connect that way. Naturally, I killed the WiFi and Bluetooth since I do not use either of those. I never did see the neighbors phone on my network, but they could have been piggy backed via my desktop? Always something.

More items that might have an influence:
http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/forums/displaypost?postID=10287736#e10287736

You're good at finding old threads. Several of the things mentioned wouldn't seem to apply, but I'll do more checking tomorrow. At least I found an easy "fix". I always put my computer to sleep at night. Wonder if the Desktop server and TiVo just don't reconnect, except this doesn't happen every day.

Don't know for sure.... but as of 2006, they said over 6 million sold. I would conservatively estimate that there are about 10 million units out there. If 10% of them use the desktop, that would be a million. I know not all models can use the software...yada yada... regardless, I think there's a lot of people affected and a fix for a problem that was caused by some stupid cookie should take less than 8 days. Suggesting that I turn my clock back on my computer doesn't seem very professional. More like hacking early 1990's software. This is a company that regularly sends me e-mails that I don't necessarily want and can't seem to unsubscribe from. They also collect gobs of infomation about my TV viewing habits, down to my fast forward clicks while watching a recording. It seems to me that they could just as easily send me a link to new desktop software that should have been ready the day after this problem occurred. But the day after it happened, they were too busy blaming your operating system as being the problem without actuallly investigating the issue.

That said, I'm actually kinda happy with the Tivo. What I don't like is a company who is so money hungry yet acts so unprofessional. I know it took a long time before they actually started making a profit, but since then, they haven't missed an opportunity...pop up ads and links to buy anything from anyone. I just appreciate a company with good customer service. Something that seems to be as antiquated as a VCR.

I've been a very satisfied TiVo user for 4 yr but I must completely agree here. The "fix" is so incredibly simple. A single line added to the end of the curl.conf file:
cookie = "sid=abc"
is all it takes. I did that the day after it stopped working and I discovered here that the issue was not with my system -- it has worked perfectly ever since. I can understand if they are working to discover the root of the problem and correct it in the code, but why not just release an immediate fix that could be a simple script to edit the curl.conf file until they can issue a more complete software fix. After all, the functionality that is broke is not minor but at the heart of TiVo Desktop functionality. The open source transfer app "kmttg" issued a release that fixed the problem in their software a couple days later -- shame, TiVo.
Although it is lame, I can fully understand their recommendation to set the clock back rather than recommending people edit the curl.conf file. Editing curl.conf is not a simple task because Windows-7 (and presumably Win-8) does its very best to hide that file from you. The curl.conf location:
%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\TiVo Desktop
is in a hidden folder in your user profile. People would have to know enough to view hidden directories then know where to find the option to make hidden directories visible. Changing the clock time is much simpler and can be done from the desktop.

Windows, since 2000 or XP, has a task that sets the clock periodically. That period is usually a constant. If w32time runs right after the clock is changed manually, someone will be posting that the clock fix doesn't work. This doesn't help the person who forgets to set the clock back. I have no problem changing the conf file but I do have a problem with TiVo support asking for screen shots of the problem. That, and the support solution has to be applied every day. It's not very good.

BTW, I change the registry on my old XP system to have the clock sync once a day.

I can offer my observation. I have been using TiVo Desktop for 4 yr through several versions on my desktop PC's. More recently for the past 1.5 yr I have had it running on a dedicated media-PC (XP SP-3) that is on 24x7 -- I had given the media-PC a static IP address since it was a server. I've never seen the issue you describe -- under Win-XP, that is -- the TiVo Desktop server has always been visible in my playlist. I access the server quite a bit from the playlist to verify a particular show has auto-transferred to the media-PC before I delete it from the TiVo.

Recently that media-PC died and I'm replacing it with a Shuttle I just built. The Shuttle will be running Win-7 Pro. I just installed TiVo Desktop on it last night and so far it seems to be working as reliably under Win-7 as it did under XP. Time will tell. What OS are you running TiVo Desktop on.

Thanks for your input. I'm running Vista Home Premium. Don't know if you saw my later posts where I found that pausing/resuming the server immediately makes the PC visible on the TiVo, and that I always put my computer to sleep at night. My suspicion is that when the computer wakes, the server may or may not send whatever signal the TiVo needs to receive. Does that seem likely? Not a big deal now that I know how to fix it if I ever need to use Desktop.

I think it might depend on your usage of the word "sleep". I never used Vista much, but I think you might want to check the properties on your ethernet port and see if it can be controlled by the computer for power savings. I have that disabled on my XP box but turned it on for my laptop to test your wakeup problem. The TiVo never turns off, but if the PC stops answering any server requests it might explain your problem.

Yes, it would have been nice if TiVo had at least alerted us to the new "feature."

Still, I don't see how it's any worse than the other 4 web based "sources," some of you folks seem to feel like it's was digital "assault" ... I guess I just don't understand the reaction ...

Yes, it does seem likely. As Joe has noted, when you put your PC to "sleep" the TiVo must think the server is off-line and awaiting it to send an "I'm here" signal.

The best I can tell, the TiVo is connected to the home network and internet just fine; even with all our computers turned off (shut down), overnight.

The router shows the TiVo as a connected device.

I did notice that again today the last three days of the schedule listings are blank (to be announced). I guess that is normal. It does periodically seem to fill itself in, every now and then. If I am not mistaken, I think I have seen it “clear” the last couple of days out when it was previously filled in. This really does not seem to affect anything since season pass has everything on auto pilot. So in that respect it is a non-issue for me.

I think it's normal. My listings end at 7pm EST on 3/9.

On the season pass, I figured out The Daily Show issue. On Monday (only), if the 11pm show is "new", the 10am and 7:27pm shows are recorded also. I know there is a workaround, but once a week I can delete those two showings easier.
Edited by JoeKustra - 2/25/13 at 1:24pm

. . . And, thus, your enviously blissful state.

My TiVo connects every day on a less than 24 hr repeat period and updates the guide. My listings have always been up to date and fully populated out 13 days. If you go into the settings menu, it will tell you when the last update occurred and when the next one is scheduled.

OK Yoda, how about just answering my original question which was, 'What is so horrible about the Web Video Launchpad? (as in the app/feature itself.)'

Does it cause Cancer? Boils? Locusts? Seriously what? Some of us are relatively new to the current TiVo platform and would like a straight answer once in a while.

I already answered your question the first time you asked it, in my post #2275.

If such things don't bother you and you can't empathize with those of us who find them irritating, then so be it. Enjoy your OCD-free state.

As for the WVL feature itself--try it out and if you like it, then use it. I personally have no interest in it as currently constituted and thus appreciate the ability to remove it from my playlist.
Edited by chi_guy50 - 2/26/13 at 11:07am

I'm with your mindset on this, but if it was placed under "Browse Web Videos" then I could live with it. Even under the "Find..." menu would be ok since that would keep it in HD.

Yes it seems to be about 12 days, but I guess it is how you count days LOL. Right now it is populated to Sunday 7PM March 10. With Monday and Tuesday "blank", I would call that 2.5 days blank. The Box says it will get its next update just after 5PM today. I notice there is a screen that says it is populated to 7PM Sunday. So I assume all is A-OK. It truly is a non-issue since season pass takes care of it all.

One of things I noticed before the Sony Box lost its listings, was that there were a couple of day that many of the program listings were wrong (like the wrong show), and the TiVo was wrong the exact same way. Now that was funny. That only lasted about 10 hours on both boxes, and then they both became correct

Hi guys. I made the move from the Sony DHG to the Premiere this past Saturday. I hated to retire a perfectly good piece of equipment, but the lack of a guide and reliable clock made it not the most enjoyable experience. I still have another one running at my parent's house, so the dream is still alive.

I've only used the Tivo for a couple of days, and so far the initial experience is positive. It will take some getting use to, but I have some questions/observations that hopefully you guys can help with. Granted, these are all comparisons to the Sony, so I have seven years of bias to get past.

--- While playing a recorded show, if I bring up Tivo Central, is there a way to exit that screen without going to My Shows and choosing the show and hitting Resume? Seems like an awful lot of button presses just to make one screen go away.

--- I'm not a big fan of the "smart-cue" while FFW or REW. I'd rather it just start at the point I hit Play. At least the Sony had adjustments for this feature. Is there any way to change it?

--- I always liked having the ability to bring up just the timeline by hitting the Up button; and I could dismiss it by pressing Down. It didn't obscure much of the screen, and was helpful for just figuring out where I was. The Tivo requires you to press Pause to bring up the timeline, which is disruptive in my opinion.

--- The ability to add Bookmarks is greatly missed. I used this all the time for concerts, sports, etc. to mark specific locations so I could easily go back and watch them again. I also used this feature if I started dozing off and was too stubborn to just stop down.

--- I miss having a Stop button. I know that Live TV basically does the same thing, but at least on the Sony, it provided further options, such as deleting the program.

--- If I'm watching a recording, but it is technically still within the buffer range, when I get to the end of the program, it seamlessly continues to the next program on the tuner. I wish it would just pop the screen up asking me if I want to delete the program.

--- I think someone mentioned this earlier, but if I'm in the live buffer and a recording starts, it jumps to the beginning of the new recording and wipes out the buffer. Hopefully this is a bug. My CM-7000PAL sometimes does this and it's highly annoying.

--- It would be nice if there were more speed options for the Slow Motion button, and if it would work in reverse as well.

--- There really needs to be a Closed Captioned button on the remote. I was going to get one of these for my parents, but they balked at it when they saw there was no CC button. They use this all the time on their Dish DTVPal DVR, mainly because their hearing's not what it used to be, and the fact that no one enunciates anymore.

I'm sure I'll have more questions as I continue to use it. I don't even want to think about the web features right now; that's all new to me.

I'll submit these to Tivo's suggestion survey as well. That's the good thing about a product that is actively being developed: you get new features and updates on a regular basis.