newbie question on Tivo (1 Viewer)

[Rob Rodier]

I apologize if this has been asked, but my search struck out.

My series 2 seems to have been designed to stay on all of the time. If so, how does it know when it is okay to change channels and record it's "reccomended" programs?

From my perspective; I leave and walk out of the room, turning my tv off manually by hand. How does the tivo know that I am not watching whatever it is outpulsing? How does it know it is okay to change the channel and record another program it thinks I may like?

I hope I am being clear...

Thanks a lot.

-rob

 

[Robert_J]

I will flash a message asking if it is OK to change the channel. If you don't click "Don't change channel" with the remote, it "knows" that no one is actually watching.

-Robert

 

[Rob Rodier]

Thanks for the response...



That doesn't seem to make sense to me though.

It makes perfect sense for the tivo to act that way when it needs to change channels to record at my request. My question is how does it know when it can record its "suggested" material?

If what you are saying is true, than it would have to interrupt whatever I am watching occasionally to see if it could record something it thinks I may like.

It seems to me that it must have some kind of trigger, wether it be loss of video signal (cable box off) or timer, etc to let it know that no one is watching and it can act on its own behalf.

Or am I losing it???

thanks -rob

 

[Stephen Tu]

If you haven't sent the Tivo a remote command for 30 minutes, it thinks it's idle and can record the "suggestions". Still throws the dialog asking if it's OK though.

Thus, if you are watching a commercial-free movie or the like, and you don't want to be interrupted by the prompt, it's best to record the movie & watch from "now playing".

 

[Rob Rodier]

Thanks Stephen,

Not how I would have designed it but I guess it will work.

Thanks a lot

-rob

 

[Robert_J]

Tivo wants you to watch EVERYTHING recorded. The more you use it the more you will start watching TV this way.

-Robert

 

[Dave-Z]

just an fyi, if you go into preferences section, there is an option where you can turn off the automatic recording of suggested material. I believe it's preferences, but if you search around, you will find it. I know, personally, I hated it when I would pause a program to go do something, only to come back just 32 minutes later and some stupid movie I would never watch was now being recorded, costing me the entire 30 minute buffer that I was psyched to catch back up on...

 

[Stephen Tu]

It's training you to just hit record . Protects from accidental channel changes as well.

The suggestions are useful - they occasionally catch something interesting, and they can act as an approximate free space meter if you just let them fill up your drive. You can turn them off, but hitting record by habit is the best way to go. Then if you are gone for more than 30 min you don't miss anything, plus you can save the entire program for later if you change your mind about watching it right then.

 

[Dave-Z]

Myself, I always seem to have a pretty full HD of shows I want to view, so if I'm watching a 3 hour football game, or a 5 hour golf tournament, hitting record isn't an option for me, as it'll bounce a good number of shows I have saved.

I just frequently turn the auto-record option on and off. Not a big issue for me, only takes a few clicks. My only issue now is my dead modem and non-functional TiVo at the moment... It's an original Philips, though, and running rather loud and at poor recording quality level, so I'm likely to just purchase a new one. Still, I have another half year on my service contract, would be much easier if I could just get it to update via high-speed cable connection.... Anyway, I digress, sorry.

 

[Michael*K]

That's the way to go when you get a new Series 2 unit. I have mine set up for a wireless connection and system and program updates are quick and painless. Another advantage...the broadband connection lets me schedule recordings within minutes over the Internet thanks to the home media option.

 

[Dave-Z]

Hey Michael, do the series 2 units come internet ready, or do you have to do the song and dance with modem setups, configurations, etc...?

There are many sites dedicated to enabling PPP connections through TiVo, but they all entail an awful lot of trial and error, and from the hundreds of posts I've seen, lots of error.

Can I just buy a new series two unit, hook up the USB to my computer, and be off and running? That'd be a dream. I looked at the specs on a few Series 2 models, and they all still say a telephone line is needed for accessing program and update info. Thanks for the response.

 

[Stephen Tu]

On a series 1, the easiest way to deal with a dead modem is to just use an old, cheap external one. You connect it via the serial port; basically all you have to do is disable flow control in the modem and enter a dialing prefix (",#319"). Check out www.tivocommunity.com, underground section, search for the "external modem success" thread. I've been doing this for about 1.5 years on mine.

With the series 2, it's easy to use a LAN connection, just plug in a support USB adapter, & punch in the appropriate prefix. Initial setup may be easier by phone, until it upgrades itself to 4.x software which has the official network support.

 

[Michael*K]

Dave, the Series 2 machines are good to go out of the box. Just need a USB-Ethernet adapter or a USB wireless access point. Setting up the Internet connection is a snap. That said, you still need to connect via a phone line for the initial setup of the box. I know at tivocommunity there are people that mention hacks that allow you to use broadband for the initial setup, but the 30 minutes or so for the setup and download via telephone wasn't that big of a hassle to me.

 

[James Lee]

Make sure you read up about ethernet adapters over at www.tivo.com/adapters. There are some wireless adapters, mostly Linksys brand, that are NOT compatible right out of the box for Series 2 Tivo units. You have to manually request a software update be downloaded to the Tivo (via phone line).

I have a Series 2 80hr model and a Linksys Wireless USB adapter and I had to fill out the online form to request the software update. It took 2 or 3 days to process and around 45-60 minutes to download to the Tivo. Once that was done though, the wireless adapter worked like a charm.

 

[Michael*K]

My Linksys WUSB11 worked right out of the box without any software modifications necessary. I didn't even buy a model with the "ver 2.6" on the outside of the box like TiVo recommends. Check the boards over at TiVo Community and I think you'll find the Linksys adapters are far and away the most reliable.