Replay TV Not Connecting To Server - Page 7

Sounded like a good idea to me, but the registration link was (& still is) down, and in addition there was no reference to a CS contact number, anywhere. It is charitable to think that this may mean they are doing maintenance on their system, but it seems more like they are cutting off the user complaint channel. I'll try the CS number posted above (254-299-2705) on Monday, and hope someone answers.

I am currently getting 8 days of programming on mine. I am not sure why it started working again. I noticed that the night it started working again it had to try several times. I just happened to be up late that night and noticed that my phone said the line was in use.

The Support and FAQS tabs on the Replay website are also links that no longer work, I just didn't mention it. Sorry. The support page stated the company is in Cupertino, California. (254-299-2705) Hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. PDST. There were separate customer service phone numbers for dialup and internet unit owners. There was also a fax number. The dialup number is the only one I noted.

For possible future use (or now): DNNA is owned by D&M Holdings in Tokyo. But I found: D&M Holdings US Inc., 100 Corporate Drive, Mahwah, New Jersey 07430; 201-762-6500; www.dm-holdings.com. As of 8/10, the CEO of D&M is Jim Caudill, and he is at the NJ address. He was with Black & Decker for 20 years, so he certainly knows how Americans feel about our "toys". Maybe we should let him know how unhappy we all are about ReplayTV.

In light of all this, I think I should get a unit so I can connect via internet. Would someone please be good enough to tell me if I should look for a 5500 unit or a 4504, 5040 or 5080 which I have seen on ebay. I really do not want to lose commercial skip. I could probably find a bigger drive if I needed to upgrade. I would appreciate the advice. Thanks.

I left a complaint on the parent company's website - or grandparent so to speak, D&M Holdings is the owner of DNNA, owner of ReplayTV. Here is a link to do so: http://www.dm-holdings.com/eng/contact Can't hurt to try!

See my post earlier in this thread for full contact info.

My units hadn't connected since I last posted. One number (410-972-0209) stopped answering (rolled over from one line to another several times without answering), I tried the other (410-510-9009) and it answered, downloaded a couple of days, disconnected, tried again and it didn't answer, tried again and it rolled over and answered, downloaded more of the guide, seems to be stuck on ~50% (gets me through Monday evening). The other is downloading from the same number, seems stuck at 53%. I'm hoping it has guide data. What a pain.

Joe

edit: It downloaded three days. Now the number isn't answering anymore. If I listen in on a handset, I can hear it rolling over multiple times. Once it answered on the fourth roll-over, but the Replay unit never got to the "connecting" message -- I think it loses the ability to synch with the other modem if it takes more time than the first or second roll-over. Blah. I'll try again in a little while.

Progress, sort of. I've been unable to complete a connection of any sort (local access or RTV central) since early Feb or so. My Channel Guide is blank, & I do Manual recordings.

Since yesterday, I noticed my SS has been successfully connecting to RTV central, allowing me to get access numbers for neighboring towns & cities, but all the Primaries I got were not local at all. Barely know where they are :-) But the good news is I can stop speculating whether there might be something wrong with my hardware or phone line quality, etc. Better news might be that if the server is now responsive (server load theory), the local access numbers may eventually work better as well.

Tried again today and got 2 local Primaries, so now I have 3. Bad news is that none will answer the phone, as yet. Do they have calling hours ;-)

Is there a difference between a nightly connect and a 243/Zones net connect?

There is no difference betweenen a nightly connect and a 243/Zones net connect.

Have you tried calling the local numbers on your handset? I am having a similar "does not answer" problem, and found that the number was rolling over several times (you can hear ring.....ring.....ring.click.ring.....ring.....) before answering. Sometimes it answered on the fourth or fifth rollover -- at which time the Replay unit no longer responded. If this is the case, perhaps you could dial with the handset, wait until it rang through the first or second rollover, then tell the replay to connect, which might give it a better chance of connecting. Of course, if it never answers your handset, this is moot.

Joe

Gring40 asked if servers can have calling hours. Yes, from my own experience working on programs years ago in Powerbuilder, when I had quick changes to make in data tables, I would take the server offline at lunch. If a lot of changes needed to be made to data tables, or modifications needed to be made to the program code itself, we would take the server(s) offline in the wee hours and put out a notice that we would be doing so. One of my coworkers kept a sleeping bag in his office.

But that was a firm with 500 users. Here it's a 1000 lb gorilla and they can do whatever they want. If there is a lot of info to be entered into data tables or large changes to code where there are glitches, the head of IT is probably letting the developers stick to regular working hours. Since it's been several weeks, that's my guess. Maybe they are making progress in bits and pieces.

That's true, CStoe. But practically, over 10 years of use, I haven't noticed a problem running a forced dial in / connect at any particular time of the day or night. I don't find it hard to believe that the call-in centers are cutting back on their active modem circuits (which Reden reported had happened), and cutting some of our phone numbers. I also don't find it hard to believe they nay have run into server conectivity problems based on changes that the call-in centers made (which Reden also reported). lastly, I have no problem believing that there is little or no resources being applied to fixing the problem. I don't see rhyme or reason to the behavior though -- one minute the service answers, and I get a partial dial in. The next, there is no answer. Then it answers after rolling over and I get another partial. Then it doesn't answer. Then yada yada yada. It is just not consistent nor predictable.

DrJoe.... I don't know how Earthlink is actually set up, but I suspect the number you dial is for a *BANK* of modems, not just one.

These typically use a T1 and a circuit is allocated on the fly. I seem to remember that for a full 56k V.90 modem, you must have a special all-digital connection on the ISP side. It's possible that there is broken or misconfiguration equipment in the modem bank it could seem intermittent to a dial-in user.

I seem to remember these banks not using first come first serve but cycling through all the circuits. That will prevent a single bad port from preventing later ports from staying idle.

I've also heard stories where there isn't actually a modem bank at all, but the number redirects to another location where there is a modem bank.

The bottom line is it is probably a lot more complicated than call number, get a modem.

BTW, one thing you can try is to call the number from another phone and hold that port and then let the replay dial. That may allow the Replay to bypass a problem port (depending on the allocation algorithm)

Robert

DrJoe - I am still having exactly the same problems as you on one unit. I bought my first Showstopper in 2000, and I never had problems all these years either. I am just luckier in that I have finally managed through my modem banks or whatever here in WA to connect two of my three units and they are updating nightly. I spent two whole days trying (and many more times over 10 days again & again) to connect via 243 or telephone number changes in Setup. I don't claim to understand the modem/server connection details, but it seems Reden does. I just don't believe all the problems are the phone lines. Does anyone else think it is kind of suspicious that the Reply website pages for Support information and the Owner account information are now inaccessible? Guess Replay has had enough phone calls, which is why I posted the parent of DNNA's info.

I was just giving a limited explanation to Gring40 about how we worked with our servers. However, I do know that we ran our programs on parallel servers, so if one went down our users were not completely locked out. But connections were then much more limited, so I could have two secretaries side by side - one just connected to the server and the other cannot. It was just luck, cause there are only so many users that can be logged on the the server at one time.

Since there are now a reduced number of phone lines, I guess it is just luck on the timing on who gets through. But I still think there is something wrong with the programs, because we cannot complete downloads every time. So let's go to D&M Holdings then, cause Replay seems to have had a long time to deal with this. Squeaky wheel theory. But maybe it is just one guy in a closet working on our problem on his lunch hour....

Tried calling on my handset and I got modem tones right away, even while my SS was telling me there was no answer.


Tried this too, calling first by handset and then doing my net connect, or the other way around. Got the modem tones on the handset both ways, but my SS just wouldn't acknowledge any connection.

I'd worry about a modem problem, but I connect just fine to RTV central when I change my Setup.

One thing has always bothered me. My baud rate is on Default, but if I look at the other options (prefix/Zones), it maxes out at 33.6. However, my SS manual claims 56. Problem here?

This is how the lines I had been using in Maine act. This is going to sound crazy (no pun intended), but the tones at the beginning of the call are different than the ones that work. Use your cell or work phone to call these two numbers:

207-622-8165

410-910-5009 <---TYPO

410-510-9009 <-- CORRECT

The first is a Maine number that never handshakes with the Replay. It answers right away, but it has a high pitched short tone at the start before going into the normal sounding handshake. All the Maine numbers are like it, and the Replay never realizes that a connection is being initialized. The second number is a Maryland number that rarely picks up on the first try, has lots of roll overs, but when it finally picks up, the Replay connects immediately. After it answers, it goes directly into the normal sounding handshake, no high pitched tone at the start.



Mine is the same. I think that Default = 56, and the others are the forced max rate you are allowing. Basically you don't set the baud rate, your phone line does. I used to have dial up for my PC where I could see what my connection speed was. It was almost never at the max quoted value I was paying for, and I was told that this was due to phone line quality and bandwidth. So if you have a poor line, you might only max out at 33 or 28 even if you are set at 56. This screen lets you lower the max connection speed allowed. No need to have 56 specified because that is the "default".

Joe

Many of the reported "good" numbers can be found on this list of AT&T numbers:

http://www.southcentralpower.com/bro...ss_numbers.pdf

I would suggest trying numbers on this list before trying any others. If one of these numbers is a free call (either a local call or free by way of subscribing to a plan with free long distance calling) but not given as a choice, program it as a dialing prefix.

I have found earthlink numbers also given as choices in the replaytv list. There are other numbers that may be provided by other companies.

I suggest checking your replaytv's guide daily to verify that it was updated overnight. Your guide should extend into the next day after a week from "today." Thus, if today is Wednesday, your guide should extend into Thursday of next week. If you only need to add one day, a forced "net connect" should work. If you allow your machine to get behind by more than one day, your may have a hard time getting the schedule to update.

Messages will report many network connection errors, but the best method is to page through the guide using the fast forward button on the remote.

If you have traditional phone service provided by the local telephone company, the modem should work. If your phone service is provided by another service, check to see if that service supports FAX machines. If not, don't expect your replaytv to be able to make a modem call. For example, Sprint has a local phone service provided by wireless access to its cell phone towers. It specifically says that FAX machines are not supported.

Seems to me that if I can complete a connection to RTV central after a zip change, that shows clearly that my phone service IS good for dial-up access. Am I missing something?

Tried those with my cell. The first sounds just like my local Alternate number, which stopped working when the rest of the Alternates quit.

For now, the second one just gives me a busy signal, so I'll try later.

I somehow typed it in and transposed two digits:

Should be 410-510-9009


Sorry,

Joe

Zip code is used for lineups. NPA-NXX (first 6 phone digits) is used to find a dialup number.

Robert

Understood. My point was: if I can connect with RTV central and successfully download new info for cable providers or local access numbers, then that shows that my modem and phone lines are working properly.

It follows that problems with getting Guide data through a dial-up access number would NOT be caused by modem or phone line problems, right?

Actually, that number picked up right away for me, and sounded just like my local Primaries, which you're welcome to try, if you like:

312-705-3309 & 312-705-1809 & 847-715-1609

I'll have to call later to get the 'rolling over' effect.

I agree with that. I think that we have a preponderance of evidence that it is not our units that are the problem. It seems there is a combination of dial-up hand-shake changes (our units don't recognize connection attempts when dialing in), removed phone lines (no answer at all/out of service message), fewer modem uplinks (multiple roll-overs when dialing in, sometimes never answering), and server connection errors (reauthorization problems while downloading data leading to interrupted calls).

It all adds up to one big FOOBAR.

Joe

DrJoe, I think you meant FUBAR, and your diagnosis is spot on.

I've been playing with some of the numbers Earthlink publishes on their web site and see problems about half the time. Not good.

I find the evolution of this problem quite interesting. It does seem to be a moving target so someone (probably Earthlink, since network attached units have far fewer problems) is doing something.

Robert

Thanks for the endorsement

I've seen FOOBAR used as a "cleaner" version of FUBAR hence my use. Some dictionaries accept it as a variant. Hopefully the system is actually repairable.

When I have time I'll give a look at some of Earthlink's numbers too. I need _something_ that is more reliable.

take care,

Joe

I thought foo.bar==FUBAR as well, but then I looked it up in Wikipedia. I suspect FUBAR is the common origin.

I was indeed checking it daily, as you suggest, and had only a few days of normal updates before the Guide started to dwindle. No amount of effort could reverse that, unfortunately. But I'm curious why you think the update is harder if the Guide is behind by more than a day?

My experience has been that NONE of the Earthlink (alternate) numbers work for a Replaytv connection. Can you share at least one Earthlink number that has worked for updating your dial replaytv?

It _seems_ like the connection gets through "checking for channels" faster if it has done it recently, and it seems like it skips quickly over guide data that it has already downloaded.

After missing 5 or 6 days, when I force a connection, the first time I connect it gets only gets part way through "checking for channels". The next time I connect, it gets through it and starts downloading the channel guide. The third time, it quickly moves through the guide % it previously reached and downloads some more. I haven't been able to get more than about 50% (5-7 days) at any one time.

I think if it is connecting every day, all it is really downloading is the next day's worth of program guide, and so the call goes quicker (less time for the connection to crap out).

Hence I would agree that it is harder to get a good update if it hasn't been reliably connecting in recent days.


Joe

The first and third numbers answered, established connection immediately, but never moved beyond that. The second never hand-shook (shaked?) (I could hear the modem noise on the handset).

I put 410-510-9009 back in and it took a couple rollovers, but then connected, set the clock and rolled into downloading channel info (which it is taking forever to get through).


Joe

Nice to hear that ; that's my experience with these also. The first was working fine until early Feb, then quit. The third was sent to me as a 'good' number, but never worked for me. The second is on the RTV phone list I got by changing my phone area code to 312. I'm calling CS today.

I have POTS with no long distance plan (I use my mobile for that), so I can't use out-of-area numbers or experiment like you can.