Replay TV Not Connecting To Server - Page 4

Looks like I'm having crow for dinner:-(

Reported success in downloading Guide data on the 11th, but today I noticed my Guide is missing three days' worth of connections. :bummed:

Forced a net connect, and it failed after ~30 min while "checking for new software". Back to the drawing board.

BTW, I only get a 'failure to connect' error message, and am lulled into complacency because there is no message to indicate a failure to actually complete a download. Without same completion, you get ZERO data.

ebruary 05, 2012
ReplayTV service live

The Perc Data ReplayTV dialup service is currently suspended while we wait to see what DNNA does with the offcial service. Perc service for network attached ReplayTV devices is still being provided.

PercData is a third party provider for guide data for Replays.

When DNNA decided to pull the plug back in June of 2011, these folks put together a business model to serve owners of Replays who wished to continue using their DVRs but did not, or could not, run their own WiRNS server.

PercData is not free. The service costs money. DNNA is not involved, and therefore, if you bought a lifetime unit, it has no bearing on what you pay to PercData.

That being written, I have read here that they (PercData) had only one dial-up customer, and that person was a beta tester. This statement would indicate that they've discontinued support for dial-up at this time, pending what DNNA does with its dial-up network.

I am sure someone can correct me if I am wrong....

Cheers!
-Doug

The latest on Laho is in the PlanetReplay forum
http://www.planetreplay.com/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=46

There really isn't much to report. Perc/Laho is operational and has been for a while. The test modem was working up until about two weeks ago and I should have it working again this weekend. (but I really don't expect folks to be using it).

Robert

I re imaged my drive and I would connect and maybe get to timezone setting before it crapped out. Well today it got to where it was downloading new program data for the unit and disconnected. when I went back to setup it had downloaded my old local numbers. But have not gotten past that....it is really nuts. But the setup still only shows direct tv as a national provider and does not give you the option to pick Dallas - Direct tv

FYI... the Laho modem is back online if someone wanted to use that for a dialup test. (well I think it is, my VoIP line has too much jitter right now to give it a solid test)

Robert

An earlier post on a different topic listed these as primary numbers for Dallas, possibly the ones you already have?


My own SS is also going down; cannot complete a download from any nearby access number, or the RTV central resource. Guide expires on Wed. :-(

I have adapted to no program guide by doing the following:

My directv box has a function that allows you to schedule a program either daily, Mon-Fri, etc. Once set the box will automatically tune the box to the auto-tuned channel

I then set my ReplayTv unit to manual record at the same time as the auto-tuned channel. I can do single recordings or weekly etc this way. This way i still get what i want. The only thing really missing is the name of the show in the replay list. Remember to hit the display button when you get to the part where it asks you what channel you want. This brings you to a screen where you can pick the input to record. Either antenna/ctv, Device 1 or 2 depending on your particular setup. Now i connected to the mothership and it will set the clock and get to timezone before it craps out. Hope this helps someone. And gring40 thanks for taking the time to repost those numbers and have a great upcoming week. My setup is device1=nothing device2=other on s-video and antenna=nothing also the directv box is DIRECTV D12 Satellite TV receiver

both of my Showstoppers came back to life, and seem to have full guides. I'm in the L.A. area, and the numbers for Lakewood seem to be working (562 area code, DirecTV channels).

Are there only a few of us not getting updated guides? Like most that are down, it gets to the end (very slow) and then just flashes the error. I'm in the Pittsburgh area and was able to get new phone numbers from this area, but still the same results.

Panasonic HS2000

I doubt that most dial users would realize they are having a problem as this failure doesn't create a message off the Main Menu. You only see the error if you watch the end of a zone 243 netconnect. Or of course, when you've failed enough consecutive days to result in a clear channel guide.

I have two units so I noticed the problems starting the end of January. The long net connect failure of the first unit would prevent the second unit from getting a dialtone. Successful netconnects used to take 2-5 minutes, now the failed connects can last 45 minutes.

I have another unit at my mom's house but I keep forgetting to see how many days she has left in her channel guide.

Thanks jonwz. At least I can give up on the 243 netconnect. I've tried a cplg times a day for the last week. Although I would like to continue to use it, if it's over I had a damn good run of many yrs.

I see a similar thread over at planet replay.

http://planetreplay.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16263

Might be worth trying:

"The very helpful Replay guy said to erase the areacode/prefix in the setup (backspace over it) and the zipcode. I accomplished that and it was able to perform the complete update from a viable number in 949, so I was very happy for that assistance".

I don't understand exactly what that means (do you put in different areacode/zip, go forward and back), but you might want to ask for the exact procedure there. This vaguely reminds me of how you forced the DST change many years ago.

I did revive one replaytv when it hung and a reboot forced the new unit setup - downloaded new numbers, then restored all my old information

Exact Same problem here. FYI, I started a new topic for this here on AVSF several days ago ; "ReplayTV won't complete a dialup connection".

I spoke too quickly. both of my Showstoppers are now out of guide. They worked for a while. I reset one (held down the power button for 6 seconds) and that one did a full reset back to out-of-the-box conditions. I'm tyring to connect now. Yikes.

My SS had the guide expire back when this problem first came about. I had cleared the guide hoping that was the problem and was then advised to change the zip and dial-in prefix. This is all old news posted but after several tries and failures, the SS finally connected to downloaded everything (clock, activation, guide, zones, etc.) It took almost 3 hours but hey! and no hiccups since. There are no messages that the daily connect failed or whatever. The provider is TWC here. If you want to try the Hacienda Heights or Pasadena numbers, I'll get them for you.

Great that you've got it working. Be careful, though, because there is no 'whatever'. While you get an error message if you fail to connect to the service, there is NO message if the connection is made but not completed. You need to look ahead and check that your Guide is fully populated.

I'm having the same problem as everyone else - Showstopper guide stopped updating. I didn't notice until earlier this week when I went to watch a show that should have been recorded, then I saw that the guide was blank and found several "network connection" errors in my messages. An Internet search led me to this thread.

I've tried several of the suggestions posted here, but to no avail. I have not yet cleared the program guide (even though it's blank - I don't want to lose the channel numbers that are there), and I'm afraid of losing all functionality.

I tried calling in to a "good" phone number (the wisconsin phone number listed in a prior post) by entering that number in the prefix dialer (connected using the force net connection in the 243-zone menu) - I connected and it appeared to go through many steps - setting clock, updating program guide (percentage incremented through to 100 percent), checking for new phone numbers, checking for updated software (it was a very slow connection, it took about 35 minutes) There were also a few steps that showed "downloading additional information". But when it got to the "combining data" step it immediately stopped and gave a message along the lines of "network error, device will try again later". There was no apparent updating completed, because the progam guide was still blank.

I went back to my normal dial up number (cleared the prefix dialing) and tried several more times (using the forced network connection). Every time I'm getting to the same point - everything appears to have completed, but as soon as "combining data" starts, I get a network error message. I've found some other threads (from a few years ago) discussing the "combining data" error as possibly being caused by low memory, but I did not find any detail on what to look for or do to see if that's a problem.

By the way, I was unaware of the 243-zone menu until I started researching this problem. I have a Logitech 300 universal remote (their low-end model) that allowed me to program the "zone" key onto one of its keys - that let me access the 243-zone menu.

I'll try again tonight, but at this point I'm not sure there's anything else to do - the problem sure seems to be at the server side.

See posts on the "ReplayTV won't complete a dialup connection" topic. That was my problem, and it resolved for me after the Guide self-cleared

Yes it was great despite taking a few hours to complete the guide download after being totally gone. I was a nervous wreck sitting there, going away, coming back, 1% at a time, until everything was done. It's been populated the full 7+ days since first restoring it and all the recordings working, too.

unit has ethernet connection: no program guide as of 2/27/12. cannot update by switching to phone modem. other units on phone line have guide through 4:30 PM, 3/4/12. I'm hoping this is a glitch before I commence manual scheduling. On The Beach!

This post applies to the Panasonic HS1000/2000/3000, but may apply to other machines that perform dialup.

Several of the Replay TV numbers that have been said to work (including mine) appear on this list:

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

I suspect that any of these numbers, since they are all hosted by AT&T, will connect you to the ReplayTV servers. If you are having trouble finding a local number, check this list. If you can't find the number in your list of ReplayTV numbers, you can program the number as a dialing prefix (inserted after your existing dialing prefix, if you have one.) The earlier machines may allow enough digits to support 1 plus area code in front of the number, as required in some areas (e. g. areas with "overlay" area codes.)

Now, to change topic, following is a variation on seti1's post #50 in this thread. Follow the instructions given but select Cable for ANT/CATV and continue up to but not including "Keep all settings." Now, go to Change Telephone. Keep your phone number but change the ZIP code. I used 12309. If you succeed without a network connect error, continue with downloading the program guide in the next step. If you chose 12309, select the first choice, Niskayuna Times Warner (not the digital). If all goes well and you get a program guide, go back through the steps with your original setup and ZIP code.

I got two machines to work this way. The third machine did not succeed so far.

I suspect that the ReplayTV servers are overloaded with traffic because the steps Setting clock, Setting timezone, etc. went quickly when things worked. When someone succeeds, it may be because they were lucky enough to connect when the server traffic happened to be light.

Bear in mind that the machines that fail to download a guide at night try again, maybe more than once, resulting in even more traffic to the servers, aggravating the problem if, indeed, it is a server traffic problem.

I have 2 showstopeprs. One is using DirectTV as its source, and it failed for a while but is back now - it actually reset itself back to the "congrats on your puchase of a Replay..." screen. I did NOTHING to cause this. I was worried I lost all my recorded shows, but after some messing around that Showstopper finally connected, downloaded channels and program guides, and then I was able to view my previously recorded shows.
The other one, I have attached to a digital converter box with an aerial antenna as a source. That one has no program data, and the dates showing on the empty program guide are November dates. It has not been able to connect - it starts to, seems to get a connection, but the connection eventually fails. A few times it seemed to work and go through the entire process, but when it completed, there was still no program info. Not sure what to do with that Showstopper.

I also have two machines that won't connect. I tried to connect manually and failed, I also tried to change my zip and phone number that connects and got a message that my machine failed to connect and could not send me phone numbers to connect to.
Is this replays way to change these machines to doorstops?
Someone said that you could use them as a VCR but if you have no channel guide you can't hit the record button and record anything, at least I can't. Is there a way to record without the channel guide?

This morning I was able to change zip and phone number to connect, picked one around 100 miles from me, I don't pay for LD so that is not a problem.
Was able to download Channel Guide, but it took 2 3/4 hours to do so. Will try my other machine later to day as see what happens.
Second machine also connected and loaded Channel Guide, don't know how long it took, once I saw it connecting I left and when I came home it was done.
Will have to keep an eye on my messages to make sure it is connecting at night. So far I am a happy camper, hope it lasts.

Advice has been not to change the zip, as it will give you the channel lineup for the area of the new zip. Changing the phone number will force a connect to the RTV 800 number, giving new access numbers, and should work eventually. As you probably know, only the Primary numbers are working these days.


You can do a scheduled Manual Record off the Menu without a Guide as long as you still have a channel lineup and a good clock.

Sometimes the best advice is no advice... I just sat back and waited.... Came home from work today and wala!!!! All good... Channel guide was back... If anyone needs the number mine used PM me....

is there a resolution to this?
I was out of the country for work for a couple of weeks, and my trusty dial-up 3xxx system hadn't recorded anything for the entire 2nd week I was gone. Channel Guide was blank, as we all know from this thread.

I have read many of the posts, many of the proposed 'solutions', etc., but what I am NOT seeing is:

A response from anyone in "The Powers That Be" with any sort of explanation
A response from the same TPTB with any sort of resolution
No one of our illustrious band of intrepid solution hunters uncovering a final end-all-do-all answer for getting around this royal pain. A lot of 'try this, it might work's, but nothing definitive.

It's more than 2 weeks now since my Replay has recorded a damned thing, and I'm rather frustrated to be the not-so-proud owner of a big paperweight (manual recording option notwithstanding...there is a REASON I stopped subscribing to TV Guide...).

Really, is there truly no answer and no light, only more tunnel?

Last thing....should I decide to go the full ethernet route vs. my looks-like-it'll-be-dead-soon-anyway dialup unit, what's the status on this with the "we're going to go belly up...uh, no we aren't" situation with Replay? Does it make any sense to go and BUY a new ethernet-based 4xxx/5xxx system NOW and put it into place, or should I just roll over and play dead and go with a *shudder* TiVO?

Seriously, what are the options?

David.

I did get the channel guide to install on my third dialup Showstopper. All 3 machines, as well as a fourth machine that worked fine all along, have retrieved guides for 2 nightly updates so far.

Note that I have flipflop7146's clock setting hack installed. There may be an issue with setting the time from the server if the internal clock is too far off (e. g. 1999).

I strongly believe that this is a server load issue. If the net connect is run when server load is low, it works, but most of the time it fails. Furthermore, if the machine is only adding one day's worth of programming, plus a few schedule changes, during the nightly update, it may have a very high probability of succeeding before some timeout forces a disconnect. So, machines with 7 days of schedule get through the nightly update but others fail, unless they happen to connect while server load is low.

The advantage of the "change zip code" solution that I posted earlier is that it runs 2 short(er) connect sessions to get the guide, which may improve odds. In all, there are 4 sessions: 2 for the remote zip code, then 2 for the home zip code.

The long term solution is FreeSCO and WiRNS running on a dedicated machine. I think it is only a matter of time before that solution must be employed.

How does this idea explain that failed connect sessions all seem to end at the 'Combining Data' stage, even after all the information has been downloaded?