Toshiba RD-XS54 - Page 8

The machine works fine but often cannot get into the web browser page. I can ping the machine. Any suggestions???

I remember Panasonic had a VCR that you could call by phone and program remotely. Hopefully this will be less clunky than that setup was.

I don't know if the firmware update would fix your display problem or not. As you have discovered, Toshiba tech support is pretty poor. I have not experienced the display problem you described either before or after doing two hard resets using the power on/off button. So, I don't know if the firmware update would help or not. All I can say at this point is that it does not seem to have had any negative effects, and I have not had any further lock-ups. It is probably safe to say that Toshiba would not have gone to the trouble of creating a firmware update (with a production disc and installation instructions) if it wasn't fairly important. I think installing the update is a good thing to do.

Is it necessary to reformat the hard drive and if so what criteria do you use do determine how often?

Does the hard drive become so fragmented playback is affected?

Thanks,

Buk

Well I just did a hard restart and lo and behold all the display items (fast-reverse, play, pause, fast-forward, channel numbers and that progress bar on the bottom) all showed up.

I searched the Toshiba web site and didn't find a means to download the firmware upgrade. Is the only way to get it is to call tech support? Or can you email them and ask for it?

Thanks,

Buk

Buk,
As I said before, the RDXS-54 firmware update is not available on the Toshiba web site. My update was sent to me by a Toshiba tech after I called in about a TV Guide Online problem. Also, I don't know if an e-mail will get the update sent to you.

As far as reformatting the hardfile is concerned, if you keep it empty by periodically removing all recordings, as I do, there should not be a fragmenting problem, and there would be no need to reformat it.

Thanks for the info.

Tonight I went to the "contact us" on the Toshiba support web page and sent a message requesting the firmware update. We'll see if I get a response.

I guess I'll need to remove some recordings to avoid the potential fragmentation problem. I just had a few episodes parked on the drive until I learn how to burn them to a disc.

Thanks again.

Well I got a reply to my email inquiry, no surprise to all of you I'm sure. The reply was "Call Us". So I guess I'll give them a call.

Buk

I've done the same routine and did contact them using the number provided in the Toshiba response. They were very nice and without any questions, agreed to send me the new firmware. You should have no problems with Toshiba.

I just updated my Toshiba RD-XS54 with the latest firmware V110 because of my machine getting locked up. The update went as described in the procedure provided by Toshiba and the new firmware seems to make the machine more responsive to commands. Everything is working as before, except for the TV Guide. After the new firmware was installed, the TV Guide screen has a message saying please wait 24 hours for the guide to be re-built. Well, the 24 hours became 48, which then went to 72 with the same message. I finally decided to do a reset of the guide and clock from the Setup menu. After 24 hours, I expected to see the list of cable provides and the Guide to start loading. The only thing that happened after the 24 hours was the clock got set correctly. Can anyone let me know if they are having the same issue with the new firmware? Or is there a possibility I have a loading issue with the new firmware that is blocking the TV Guide from working? Any help would be appreciated.

As best I can recall, when I installed the firmware update, the TV Guide listings were not wiped out, and I did not get any messages about repopulating the listings. The unit displayed a message indicating the update was successful, exited the update process and returned to normal operation. If you, in fact, have lost or did not have TV Guide listings at the time of the update, it may be necessary to do a hard reset (press and hold power on/off button for 10 seconds). I had to do this after I initially powered the unit on to get it to download listings. When I performed the hard reset, I had to go through the setup process again, but then everything worked properly. I don't know if a hard reset wipes out the listings since I did not have any listings the two times I have done a hard reset, but my guess would be that it does.

Thanks for the response. Doesn't look like you have any of the problems I'm experiencing. To my surprise on Tuesday, I received a return call from Toshiba. I called on Monday to see if I maybe had a bad install of the new firmware. The Toshiba Rep spent about half an hour looking at the register information stored in the machine. An interesting fact that was found is the clock is really not set properly. It appears to display the correct time on screen but clock register does not indicate the correct time set from a station according to Toshiba. After all the research, Toshiba had me do a hard reset but using a remote code. They are scheduled to call back today to look again at the registers after the machine has been off all night. They were a little surprised by the TV Guide not reloading after installing the new firmware and are trying hard to understand what may have happened. I'll provide an update with any information they provide me.

Wow, do you have a special person to call or something? I have a couple of readily reproducible bugs on my XS32, and I'd LOVE to be able to explain them (even in email) to someone beyond the first level contacts.. (one of them caused my hard drive to corrupt last Oct.)

I've done nothing special here, trust me! I called Toshiba's normal CS phone line, they took my message and passed it on to a TV Guide specialist.

Got my return call from Toshiba right on time Thursday (1pm). I've been dealing with Jan, Toshiba - Specializing in TV Guide issues. We again went through all the registers after the master reset 24 hours earlier. Jan took the time to walk me thought what all the register data indicated. Interest stuff on how this all works. Anyway, we found that the clock was properly set this time. The internal registers use military time and are set to Greenwich Mean Time then use the zip code to set local time. But the TV station where the time was set from was not my local PBS station. I live in Central Florida and should be getting my TV Guide data from a Orlando PBS station but the clock was set by a Tampa station (I'm using an OTA for TV Guide data cause the local Cablevision company has gone to all digital locals which can't sent out TV Guide data). All the data registers indicated very little usable guide information found but lots of errors packets and attempts, which all make sense if it got a very weak signal. All this register data indicated that my local PBS station had stopped transmitting the TV Guide data and the XS54 had somehow got enough signal from a wayward PBS station in Tampa to get clock data and was trying to get the rest of the guide info from that signal. Toshiba was contacting the TV Guide folks on the stations failure in Orlando. Bottom line, the new firmware had nothing to do with the loss of TV Guide data. Just happen my loading of new firmware uncovered the lost of Guide data from the station. I hope this helps anyone thinking about upgrading their firmware on the XS54.

Kenni_o

I've been following this thread since I recently purchased a RD-XS55. During this problem with the TVGOS, did you ever lose the ability to schedule manual recordings?

I don't use the TVGOS, but do have it programmed through my straight cable to the recorder's tuner. I record everything via my digital cable box via Line 1 input. I don't trust the TVGOS scheduling as I never trusted the old VCR+ on VCR's. I also found out that using the G-Link for the box, presented the inability to schedule recordings manually via the tuner.

Hello Everone,

I too own a RD-XS55(nice unit,right wdsnls ) and my TVGOS has never up loaded since I received it on 06/21/06 as a Father's Day gift.So I've turned to manual recordings.No,you should not have lost the ability to do schedule manual recordings.This is what I do:

Unit is on.With the remote,press "TV Guide".Your service bar is highlighted by seeing "listings" in yellow.Press x2 the left arrow to "schedule".Then press"Menu"(left from TV guide button) and you'll see on the left panel "Schedule Options".Scroll down the list until you see "new manual recording".Press enter and fill in the blanks.Make sure your "input",as in your setup and mine,is 'line 1".Hope this helps.

I have called customer service for 4 weeks straight with no assistance on TVGOS.And Iam always told that someone will call me back. Still waiting

Willy

HI WDSLNS,

To answer your question, NO problems using the manual recording option. I've always been able to do manual recordings. I use the manual option a lot because I'm using the HBO / Cinemax internet online guide to schedule recordings for all the movies I want watch, a month at a time - TV Guide only has an 8 day schedule. I have a problem with my cable company, as they currently are using a very old Motorola Digital cablebox that is not supported by the XS54. So I can't change the cable box stations using the XS54. I do manual recordings to the Line 1 input and then I have set the cable box timers to match. I currently have the month of August movies already scheduled.

Besides the OLD cable box problem, the cable company has already converted all the local stations from analog over to digital channels. They are running new fiber optic cables now and are planning to go to an all Digital Service by the end of the year. That's when I'll get a new cable box that will work correctly with my recorder. According to Toshiba and Cablevision, the Digital stations currently can not support the TV Guide format. So I'm currently using an OTA, connected to the XS54 tuner to pick up the TV Guide data from the analog PBS station. Or should I say, I was using it to get the data. Hopefully, the PBS station will fix their problem real soon. This Digital station issue with TV Guide maybe the reason a lot of users are NOT getting their listings. And as more cable companies convert to just receiving digital stations, more and more will loose their guide listings.

The basic difference between the listing services provided by TV Guide and TiVo are that one is free while the other costs money. In addition, listing updates for TiVo are provided over a telephone or network connection that is not required for TVGOS listing updates. The old adage that says you get what you pay for is applicable in this case. If you have a DVR connected to a system that does not provide the required downloads, TVGOS is not going to work. One perspective is that since there is no subscription fee for TVGOS, you have not lost anything if it doesn't work. This, of course, assumes that you can manually schedule recordings on the DVR as required with VCRs before VCR+. Others will argue that the presence of the software and hardware in the DVR to support TVGOS adds to the cost of the unit and you actually paid for something that you cannot use. Some would say that even though you might have paid an extra cost one time for TVGOS, that is preferrable to paying a monthly fee.

If you want to be guaranteed of having a TVGOS/TiVo kind of scheduling, it would appear that you must pay the monthly subscription fee for TiVo and be able to connect the unit to a telephone line or a network. Obviously, TVGOS has significant cost and convenience advantages over TiVo, but TVGOS might not work in your environment. It would be to the consume's advantage to determine the viablilty of TVGOS in their environment before making a purchase. However, even if it is determined that TVGOS works where you are now, you must hope that you are not forced to move to an area where it does not.

Choices, choices.

I don't understand the difference in support from Toshiba. Maybe they have different CS centers, I've been talking with one in the midwest (Michigan or Illinois I believe) They have been absolutely great in working with me. The first time I called to report my problem with the TV Guide, it took maybe 5 days before their specialist call me back. Since then, I've been in communications with their techs maybe 6-7 times. Toshiba contacted TV Guide directly and I've received a call back from a TV Guide rep. The TV Guide rep is the one who found that my local cable company switched from analog to digital stations and using the Digital PBS station as the reason I was not getting my guide data. I called the cable company and they confirmed the switch. Just a thought, since you have not received any TV Guide data, you may be dealing with the same issue of only getting digital stations that I have.

Toshiba always scheduled a return call time to gather more information and they have been within 5 minutes of that time. As I said before, they have taken the time to try and explain what the registers do and the data collected. Sorry your experience has been different, I'm very impressed in the support I've received from Toshiba!

You are correct. I did check with others that have units, TV and Recorders, that receive the TV Guide and was assured it worked locally. But by the time I purchased the XS54, the cable company had made the conversion from putting out the analog stations over to digital stations, which kills the guide. This problem will only continue unless TVGOS finds a way to get their data out over digital stations. There will be lots of unhappy people that wake one morning to find their TV Guide data gone as the cable companies move to all digital stations.

One user of a diff. machine solved a "similar" problem. His cable co., Rogers in Canada, went all-digital, but they moved some needed analog channels up to high channel numbers (his previous analog Host station was moved from 8 to 808).

He called the cable co. to find this out. Then he just edited his channels to make the analog channel (808) tune to channel 8, the new digital channel for his Host station.

You should call your cable co. and see if they retained some analog channels and where they moved them, then make the "tune channel" switch??? You can probably assume you're looking for an analog PBS channel that they hopefully retained and moved up or down their channel listing?

Here's the thread he started on his digital/analog solution for TVG.

Disclaimer: I have not used any TV Guide On Screen devices.

However, I think that's a gross oversimplification of it, though it is analogous to the people who say that their cable DVR "does everything a Tivo does", when there's clearly evidence to the contrary.

Discussion on this forum has shown that the TGOS data is not as full featured as Tivo's guide data (which comes originally from Tribune Media Services). According to other people here -- TGOS does not have new/rerun indication that the Tivo guide data (usually(*)) has.

Also, TGOS cannot carry every single channel that everyone needs in every market. This is technologically impossible due to bandwidth limitations. Tivo's data will have all channels (and will make new lineups for people, for example if an apartment complex gets their own special cable setup).

(*) There are some shows, such as the Daily Show, that routinely do not have guide data, and thus Tivo will record duplicate episodes. This can be worked around, but admittedly the workarounds are similar to 'manual recording' on these DVDRs. However, for the vast vast vast majority of shows, the data is accurate.

BTW, I have 2 Tivos and a Toshiba XS32. I have a lifetime subscription on my Tivos.. I am one of those who does NOT like a monthly fee for more services.. though special deals I've seen on the dual tuner Tivo have slightly worn down my dislike for more monthly fees, since it would be $6.95/month for me since I already have Tivos. In other words, that would be somewhat palatable to me, though I'd prefer the return of lifetime subscriptions.

The TVGOS on my Panasonic E-500 and E-65 has a repeat indicator, and has a very decent description of each program that can be used to decide whether to record or not.

I agree that TIVO has more features than TVGOS, but TVGOS is free and very handy for recording. Besides, the TVGOS in my Panasonics doesn't report back to headquarters what I record, unlike TIVO.

Different choices for different folks.

FYI - New programming in TVGOS has a "New" icon with the show's title. It is informational only in that, unlike Tivo, you cannot have automatically record or not record depending on the icon.

Thanks for the information. I'll give it a shot and see if my cable company can do something simular.

I can log on via web page very sporadically. I have to constantly reboot the machine. I log on once or twice then i get a blank web page then i have to reboot the machine.?? Any assitance??

'm thinking about buying the RD-XS54 and have a few questions about it's network functionality. I searched the Toshiba website for the manual but it's not posted so I thought I'd ask the experts.

I have a Dish Network Vi622 and I want to connect the XS54 to the output of the Vi622 and use it to back up my recordings like a VCR. I then want to have the capability of being able to extract the video from the hard drive on the XS54 via the network and editing it on my PC.

Will this work or should I try a different approach?

Thanks!!

Hello,
From my understanding,the RD-XS54 doesn't record from dish/sat.But the new model,RD-XS55 does(as per manual).And with network on PC-excellent.If you have Norton's anti program,make sure you allow all the time.It loves to block RD-XS55.I'm still on the learning stage and the Toshiba RD-XS55 is awsome(minus TVGOS)!

Willy

I wish I could afford something that fancy

I have new updated information from Toshiba on the XS54. I've been working with Chad at Toshiba on several TVGOS issues. I've been using an OTA to get the Guide listings because my cable company has moved to all digital stations including my PBS station, which carries the TVGOS. I recently started loosing my guide information, which on the surface, seemed to be the result of a problem with my analog PBS station. What we have uncovered is the listings were actually lost as a result of my changing the channel information for the guide. Toshiba uncovered that if you have duplicate PBS stations (OTA - Analog and Cable - Digital) using the same call letters turned on in your guide you can loose your guide information completely. In my case, I had the OTA PBS station on and the same station on the cable channel also on. The TVGOS was looking for the PBS station on both the cable (digital station with not guide data) and OTA (analog station with data). The results were NO TVGOS data was downloaded. As soon as I removed the duplicate cable PBS station from my channel list, all the guide listings stated to populate. I hope this information helps anyone trying to get TVGOS working using an OTA.