Back From Vacation

[mabfan]

What she said. We're back, we're exhausted, and given that Readercon is this weekend, it's doubtful we'll catch up.

Plus...our TiVo is giving us trouble, not seeing a dial tone, and so hasn't gotten schedule info for about a week. Did anyone out there happen to record the documentary about Superman that A&E was showing? I think it was called "Look, Up in the Sky!: The Amazing Story of Superman."

Comments

[arib.livejournal.com]

I have the documentary on my DVR. I can try to make you a copy if you'd like.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

I would very much appreciate it. VHS, DVD, or another format?

[arib.livejournal.com]

VHS, most likely.

[lizziebelle.livejournal.com]

They've actually released that special on DVD, so you can rent it or get it from Netflix. It's really good. :)

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

We caught a segment at my Mom's house. I had heard mixed reviews, but as we watched I decided that the bad reviews were wrong. :-)

[justcomeinalone.livejournal.com]

I bought it and consider it definitely something that will be viewed multiple times. The bloopers during the credits are priceless.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Hi, I run tivolovers. Depending on your TiVo and situation there may be options to get it working again. What model TiVo do you have? And do you have regular phone service, or VOIP? Also, do you have broadband and a home network?

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Wow! I didn't even know there was a group devoted to the TiVo.

It's a Sony SVR-2000 that we bought five years ago. It has stopped "seeing" the dial tone when it makes its daily call, even though we've checked and we get a dial tone on the line using a regular phone. (It's regular Verizon phone service.)

We do not have a home network. We buy into a neighbor's WiFi.

We had this same problem a few years ago where it wasn't able to make the daily call, and a call to Sony tech support led us to perform a "kick start" of the machine. We tried that again last night to no avail.

Any help you can think of would be extremely appreciated.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Ah, that's an old Series1. Unfortunately those units often suffer modem failures if they get any kind of surge. It is a common problem with the S1 boxes. If the modem is dead there are some options:
1. Install a network card to put the unit on Ethernet - then you could use a WiFi bridge to use the WiFi.
2. Use an external modem connected to the serial port, normally used for serial control of a cable box. There is a hack for PPP over serial to allow the unit to use a regular old external modem.
3. Repair the modem. There are modem repair kits, but you need to be comfortable soldering on the TiVo's board. Or there are companies that will repair it.

Of course, if you're paying monthly and don't have lifetime on the unit, right now you can get a Series2 'free' after rebate, so you could just junk the old S1 and get a new box with all the new features. If you have lifetime though, it may be worth getting it working again.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

We do have lifetime service, and would like to keep using the unit if possible.

I bet it was the recent mini-powerouts that did this. Dang.

Do you happen to know of a company in the Boston area that would be able to repair the modem if we brought in the unit?

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

No place local that I know off. Here are some options:
http://www.9thtee.com/tivomodemrepair.htm
http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-modem-fix.php
http://www.digitalrecorder.com/main/catalog/wrapper.php?file=parts.html

9thtee.com and WeaKnees.com are well known and respected in the TiVo circles, I really don't know much about DigitalRecorder.com at all.

The simplest solution would be to get one of the stereo-to-serial cables and connect an external modem. Or, of you don't have a modem, just by the modem kit from WeaKnees.com, which has the cable and modem all configured.

Otherwise you could send the TiVo off to have the internal modem repaired to the site listed at 9thTee.com or DigitalRecorder.com.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

After checking all the links, we've ordered the kit from WeaKnees.com, as it seems like it'll be the easiest and most straightforward solution. It also means we'll be able to keep recording over the weekend, by simply using the manual recording ability.

I really hope this works out and I will keep you posted. I don't know who you are, or how you found out about my problem, but thanks so much for your willingess to help out.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

I'm like the TiVo question fairy, I just pop up and try to field TiVo issues. :-) I use tivo_in_lj to spot them.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

OK, Mr. TiVo question fairy. :-) I installed the new modem this afternoon, and it seemed to work perfectly. I told it to make its daily call, and it did, and it apparently downloaded program info.

However...it still doesn't seem to know that it's done that. When I push the button to go to live TV, it tells me that it still needs to make a daily call for program info. But when I push the button again for the program guide, it shows all the program information! But the season passes haven't kicked back in yet.

So...any ideas what I need to do now? Just to try something, we've told it to make another daily call.

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

Mr. TiVo question fairy:

Never mind. The TiVo is now working perfectly.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the lead to the modem kit. Do you take tips? Please let me know.

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Ah, it was probably still indexing the data before.

I don't normally take tips - but if you want to throw a referral my way the next time you activate a TiVo, or buy some paid LJ time for tivolovers I wouldn't refuse. ;-)

Glad that it is working again for you!

[mabfan.livejournal.com]

or buy some paid LJ time for tivolovers I wouldn't refuse. ;-)

Done. You should now have 6 more months on that community.

And thanks again!

[zonereyrie.livejournal.com]

Indeed! And thank you!

[delkytlar.livejournal.com]

We didn't tape the show, though we did watch it. I thought it was quite good. They covered all the major developments in Supe's history on the page, over the airwaves and on the screen. My son (8) was fascinated to learn how many versions of Superman there have been, though he had a hard time with the segment on George Reeves' death.

Do what you can to see it. While you may already know much of the history, you should enjoy it.