Replay TV Not Connecting To Server - Page 9

Umm... No... It tells you the line is in use if it is in use... Then it tries again later in the night....

No dial tone usually means what it says. It could mean that there was an interuption in the Vonage service/cable internet service, but the other unit connected and there was a dial tone in the morning.


Joe

The problem with the 5000 series, is you need ethernet service at the unit, no? I have no phone lines (unless I run a cable across the floor of my bedroom) or ethernet jacks to hook up to. I have cheap phone jack over power line units (bought & paid for many years ago) to get all my units to a phone line. AFAIK, it is expensive to do the same thing with ethernet or wireless.

My ReplayTV 5040 did the same thing. I fixed it by switching to internet, but now the remote control crashes the system when I hit channel guide. What do do?

Funny you should mention this, because one of the Newegg shell shocker deals for today is a wireless-N adapter for any Ethernet enabled device for $24.99....

If you have a lap top, and if it connects to your LAN via wireless, then you have all the portability you need to get data to your otherwise unwired RTV.

Install WiRNS on the laptop. Subscribe to SchedulesDirect. Use a cross-connect (or patch) Ethernet cable to connect your RTV to your laptop. Serve your RTV's with the guide data on the WiRNS laptop. Takes less than two minutes per machine for two-weeks worth of data.

I do not have broadband. I do have a PC, where I use a dial-up connection to download my program info from SchedulesDirect once a week. I then serve it out to my Replays (once a week).

While I have a dedicated PC for this task at home, I use my laptop to serve my units at my vacation home.

All you need is a patch / cross-connect cable, and a subscription to SD to make your laptop act as your guide server...


Cheers!
-Doug

hi , I bought a replay 5040 at the swap meet and cant get it to connect to phone line or internet. it keeps wanting to check for payment, but it will never connect , then it will retry later.............just wondering if i have to call and make payment first not shure what to do.....

had to go in settings and change zip code, but do i still have to activate ? replaytv.com wants $12 to activate?

How do you plan to hook it up? (Ethernet or phone?)
You really really really want to use Ethernet.

Can you get to the "Setup" menu?


Cheers!
-Doug

DNNA is not collecting anymore. Do not pay them anything.

When your RTV connects to the DNNA Mothership, it should no longer ask you for payment.

it is working now , thanks ,it is on eithernet
now I need to upgrade the 40 gig drive , it only has 12 hours of room!

You could select a lower recording quality for more time. I get an acceptable picture on the lowest (Extended) setting, giving 30 hours on a 20 gig drive.

A new twist to the old story. My one machine had programming to Wed. on Sat. On Sunday it had programming to only Mon. at 6PM. Tried to connect and on the screen it was doing its thing going through and saying it was connecting and was loading the guide when I noticed that the light on my phone base that tells you the line is busy was out. I checked the phone and there was a dial tone fbut the RTV was still downloading stuff, this went on for an hour and it went back to the Connect to page, when I hit exit and checked my guide it was not updated. Did this a couple of time with the same result. This morning when I got up I connected again but the light on the phone was out when I left but when I got home just now I checked the guide and it was updated till Thursday.
My other RTV has two weeds of program guide in it, who know what will be in it in a couple of days.

Go on to ebay the pluglink adaptors work great....the best thing I ever bought. Ebay sells a pair for 15-20 bucks and you plug one in the outlet and the source router and another into a wall plug near your replay and you then have 200 mps connection. no fuss and no long lines to traverse. Below is the guy I purchased my from. look up the hook up even Sarah Palin could get it right. Well maybe not that easy maybe Todd could help her. LOL

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Ethernet-Con...item19cf154b10

I have lost my channel guide in my RTV 3030. I can connect with 243Zones and channels are updated, but there is no guide info. I have changed dial-in numbers, reset my zip code to get a new channel lineup, but the guide info is still blank. There are no messages from either the 243zones or nightly connections for troubleshooting. Does anyone have any ideas what to try next?

Thanks,

Mike

From the 243-Zones screen, try clearing the guide (forcing a reboot) TWICE. I don't know if it is hoodoo, voodoo, or science, but it worked for me -- supposedly it clears corrupted channel guide info along with the back up guide info.

Now, make sure that the phone is actually connecting to the number you are using:

1) Is the phone answering (listen in on a handset and see if it rings forever or starts a handshake)?
2) Is the handshake occurring (it should say "connecting")
3) Is it connecting to the server? (It should say move past connected & check for activation, phone, etc)
4) Does it get through "downloading new channels" and start downloading guide info? (It may take multiple calls to get to this point)

--> check that the phone line is in use while all this is going on. For some "connections" it can look like you are downloading guide info when the phone line is actually dead
--> If you get through #4 above, even with multiple calls, you probably have a good number you are dialing. Let it complete (even if it takes multiple tries) and you will populate the guide data
--> If you can't get through #4 above, try a different number -- if you have long distance, use one of the "good" numbers talked about earlier in the thread. Instead of changing area code or zip, just use it as a dialing prefix.

then cross your fingers and hope

One of my units is updating every night (ReplayTV model) and has 8 days of guide data; the other hasn't updated for a week (guide data runs out tomorrow). I will try clearing the guide data again tomorrow and seeing if it downloads OK again.

Joe

I cleared the guide twice and the handshake is being made, though it takes over a minute to get past "Connecting..." to "Connection established." But the connection is usually dropped after that. Sometimes I do get further and detect new channels, downloading new zones, etc., but never downloading guide info. I haven't tried one of the good numbers as a prefix yet, but I'll try that tonight.

Dr Joe.
I'm going to put my 2 cents worth in here. I'm retired from the phone co. These lines we use to connect to RTV servers, are in most, if not all cases, a multi-line hunt group or mlhg. What that means is that is that a mlhg may have one number, but 30 or 40 or more terminals on it. I think that each terminal has it's own modem on it, which may or may not be working properly or may or may not be configured properly. This explains why you call in once and get this far. Call in again and get that far. Call in a 3rd time and get a different result. You're not hitting the same terminal every time. I have to wonder if RTV has anyone really working on this network, correcting these issues. I have unlimited LD and have been using out of town numbers for a while with varying degrees of success. The last time I tried the main number in the 504 area, it was on intercept (disconnected). You call always try an Area code+555, this should work with 800 RTV number to get you new numbers. Leave your Zip code as it is and you will get the right guide data.

Good luck and patience.

Don H.

Don,

You lost me with the area code + 555 remark. Not clear what it means to "try area code + 555". Could you elaborate on how to do it and what it does?

thanks,

Joe

Joe.
Look in the phone book and pick an area code. For the local exchange use 555. It should work for any area code. Los Angles, Ca would be 213555. Houston Tx would be 713555, etc. Baton Rouge would be 225555. This should get connect numbers for the area.This is, of course, when you are changing your setup phone numbers.


Don H

OK, that makes sense. When I've changed to other area codes, I have on occasion had to hunt for a local exchange number.

But what good does it do to change to another area code/exchange if you don't know if there are good numbers there? I've had a number of times where I couldn't connect over the 800 number. It is easier to just put known good numbers in as dialing prefix.


Joe

I used a known good number in the prefix and I did get a connection, new channels, new zones, etc., but still no guide info was downloaded. The connection does drop when downloading "additional information," though. What's the next step to try?

Thanks,

Mike

Unfortunately there isn't really a next step. Just repeat, try the same or a different number. In my experience, if the call is long (> 30 min) it is going to be unsuccessful, with no guide data. Often, in calls like this, the line is disconnected early in the call, and the ReplayTV acts like it is still downloading information. Usually, when I have success, it moves quickly to "new channel info" then it stalls (moves quickly to ending the call) and takes several tries to get to downloading guide info. All of the evidence (direct and annecdotal), suggests that even when you call a "good" number, the results can vary (from call to call and unit to unit).

It seems that soft reboots (holding the power button down) are helpful for resetting the modem when it locks (as it does when some "bad" connections/calls are interrupted) and clearing the guide data (two or more times) may facilitate collecting new guide info after multiple calls are missed. I haven't personally seen any positive effects related to calling in on the 800 line for new phone numbers or channel lineups, but several others have reported that this jump started guide info downloading.

Good luck,

Joe

It's the weekend, a good time to try RobMan's procedure at

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1403214

I've learned a lot from:
- enabling PTVIO, and looking at R3k, R5k console messages

- looking at those messages and Wiresharking an R3K try an update from the Replaytv servers through FREESCO (which it appears is now also broken)

- comparing all that with R3k thru FREESCO to WiRNS V2 which as previously mentioned works fine. Note that WiRNS V2 uses the Replaytv servers for data, and seems to solve the hung session when going directly from FREESCO.

Without going into a lot of detail, it appears to me that their "authentication change" has crippled DNS resolution. Here's a typical PTV messsage that happens after sitting on "connection established"

Nonfatal ERROR OCCURRED -
MODULE - DNS Module error number 0x907, parameters: 0x0, 0x0, 0x0
Task id is 0x1001c
Highest mem is 0x9c3cf22b
Task error code 0x0


But back to my orginal suggestion. The setup process goes to an 800 number. That number should be lightly loaded on the weekend. You *might* get lucky and bypass the DNS failure, and resolve "production.replaytv.net". Your replaytv will cache that IP address for some period of time, so if you do the 243 zones net connect soon after (no reboot in between), you will hopefully get a refreshed channel guide

GOOD LUCK!

P.S. one thing I've learned is that those "progress" messages after "Connection Established" during a long session, they just mean that the given step has timed out. Other people have mentioned this with respect to the setting clock message, but it also applies to all those percentage countdowns. This from observing the replay screen messages while observing the error messages on the PTV console, and observing the lack of any progress on a failed FREESCO wireshark.

jonwz I think you found the problem!

DNNA's Replaytv.net DNS is all screwed up. I'm reporting it now. It can cause all the random errors we're seeing.

Robert

I don't think that's the problem, but keep us informed on their reply.

When I use a R3k/FREESCO connection to resolve the ip addresses for all the replaytv servers, and then do a 243 connect directly, it works fine. That's because the r3k has cached the name resolutions from the freesco connection. I've confirmed this with the PTV netlookup command.

You can try repeating that test with your r3k/freesco.

But I hope for us all, you can get DNNA to fix things!

Now your suggestion begins to make sense. I will say that after downloading new phone numbers I haven't noticed an improvement in connection success. But it is likely I never tried a "known good number" immediately after an 800 number conncetion. Usually, I'd be trying out numbers from the new exchange that I did not have a history of.

I'll give it a shot on my "empty" unit tonight.

thanks,

Joe

Weeks ago my Panasonic SS units were aborting at the end of the 243 connect downloads when they reached "combining data". Others reported the same problem here. Then about 2 weeks or so ago my SS units started downloading again during the regular nightly sessions. Happy, happy! But a few days ago I saw no updates to the guide. None of the normal messages that the network could not be contacted, etc. showed up either. Hmmm ! Should have been a message ! When I cannot reach the mothership because I manually cancel the download, I still get a message. So the message system still works.

Over the last three days at various times of the day & night I tried many, many 243 connects. Some times I had trouble getting through to the server, but most times I made it. At the end of the download it was back to the download aborting at the "combining data" point. I am now on the last hour of my guide. Back to manual records. So RTV broke whatever fix they had put in that affected the SS units.

On my newly acquired Sonic Blue 4516 unit (which is on dialup until I get my wifi adapter) I'm pretty sure I was getting 10 days of guide, where the SS units got 8. Just now the 4516 unit downloaded on a 243 connect, and I now have 13 days of programming. Makes sense to me if we are able to download more days of the guide at one time. Less phone lines plus more days of the guide downloaded in one session might work out even steven in handling traffic to the server. (Thanks dstoffa for the shell shocker tip on the adapter.)

On the SS problem at the "combining data" point on the 243 download which has reappeared (which I also saw happen last night on its regular nightly download attempt), perhaps RTV is trying to download more days of guide to these units than they are able to handle. So when combining data (populating the tables or whatever) in the SS causes the download to abort because these units cannot handle more data in the form of more days. Just guessing ??? !!

Well, I cleared the guide twice before changing the channel by using the "555" extension trick. When it dials in to the 800 number it connects ("connection established"), but is unable to connect to the server. Multiple tries have ended in failure. I'll try again later.

Joe

Don ... Thanks for shedding some light on how the connection process works; I don't see how we can solve (or work around) this problem without understanding it.

So the local access # feeds a mlhg, which consists of a bank of modems and terminals. Can you explain what you mean by 'terminal', and what function it performs in the download process?

Finally have my SS up and working again.. I had kinda given UP on it, but, did all the usual stuff today, and it worked..

btw, I was NOT able to use my OBI110 to connect.. is ANYbody here using one successfully? I bought it.. so I can avoid long distance charges for guide data.. but, when I first got it, May 1.. I lost All my SS data, and proceeded to have that same problems as most here, trying to connect..

I'm Happy now, .. well, I'd Love to have Local number again, or, get this working with my OBI110

good luck everybody!

A terminal is just an OE of which there maybe several with the same phone number attached. An OE (office extension) is simply a 2 wire frame appearance that has a dialtone on it. In the newer ESS offices, they call them lens. To help you understand why they use mlhg, it provides multiple access to the same number. So if a mlhg has 30 terminals in it, it means 30 people could call in at the same time, access the server and get a connection/download. If you didn't have a mlhg, only one person could call in at a time to get a RTV connect and download.

If you have most questions, ask me and I'll try to answer.

Don H.