Series 2 Remote (C00034) ?

[Brother52]

Does anybody know if a S2 remote (specifically this one - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/390324498382) works with a UK S1?

I particularly like the idea of having a switch to flick between two TiVos - currently I'm using two remotes...

[disneyboy]

yes works fine

[Brother52]

yes works fine

Thanks for that - do you know if it's possible to select the VCR input using this remote? (ie: equivalent to pressing the "VCR" button on a silver remote)

[mrtickle]

Aux bypass won't work either...

[Brother52]

Aux bypass won't work either...

Is that first-hand experience, or an educated guess?

[mrtickle]

It's an educated guess based on the Aux and VCR buttons not being present on any remote other than the UK remote.

Generally the other remotes work (without Aux and VCR buttons), as long as you're careful not to press the Enter button on in the wrong places in the UI. If you do the TiVo sees the USA-Enter IR command, starts thinking it's a USA model, and you have to reboot to get functionality back. Can't remember where exactly.

[Brother52]

Generally the other remotes work (without Aux and VCR buttons), as long as you're careful not to press the Enter button on in the wrong places in the UI. If you do the TiVo sees the USA-Enter IR command, starts thinking it's a USA model, and you have to reboot to get functionality back.

Fair enough - thanks for the info

Would it be possible to use SendKey to get back the missing VCR/AUX functionality (ie: using a bit of TCL to map another button)?

EDIT: seems straightforward enough - this example http://oreilly.com/pub/h/586 demonstrates "re-mapping" the LiveTV button to simulate pressing the TiVo button...

[mrtickle]

Nice find. "You might guess that an event type 27 with a first data value of 6 is telling TiVo to display live television. And you'd be right." - yes, that was my instant guess when seeing that bunch of numbers

[Brother52]

Live TV hack

I've had a little play around with the hack referenced above, and it does indeed hook (rather than trap) the switch-to-Live-TV event.

Looking through the code for SendKey.tcl, there are no explicit button codes defind for VCR (and AUX) - however, there is a gap (35 to 39, IIRC) in the defined button codes, together with a telling comment about not bothering to include Thomson-specific ones (presumably VCR and AUX).

I haven't tried modifying SendKey.tcl to include the "missing" VCR and AUX button codes, but I can't see why it wouldn't work (after figuring out which code is which).

Series 2 Remote - C00034

I'm pleased to report that the C00034 remote works like a charm (for me, at least) with two TiVos - with the DVR switch on the remote in position 1 corresponding to remote #7, and position 2 to #9 (why it's not remote #1 and #2, I have no idea...)

As discussed above, there is no VCR (or AUX) button on this remote - however, setting the VCR Bypass to Automatic (in the SCART Settings) largely negates the need for one.

For example, I have to TiVos connected together - the TV output from TiVo1 goes to the TV, and the TV output from TiVo2 goes to the VCR input/output on TiVo1. TiVo1 is configured for automatic VCR bypass.

Switching between TiVo1 and TiVo2 goes something like this:

- Watching Tivo1 (switch on the remote set to DVR1, and TiVo2 is in standby)

- To watch TiVo2, flick the switch to DVR2 and press the TiVo button.

(TiVo2 comes out of standby, and starts outputing video - TiVo1 detects this (on its VCR input) and automatically loops it though to the TV.)

- To switch back to watching TiVo1, press the TV Power button (labelled Standby on UK remotes, but same position - top left), and flick the switch back to DVR1.

(TiVo2 goes into standby and stops outputing video - TiVo1 detects this, and automatically reverts to outputing its own video to the TV.)

So far, so good - however, there are a couple of quirks worth mentioning:

- You must put TiVo2 into standby when switching back to TiVo1.

(TiVo1 will only switch to looping through video from TiVo2, when TiVo2 comes out of standby and starts displaying video. If you forget to do this, simply put TiVo2 into standby and then press the TiVo button to wake it up again.)

- You may lose TV control (power, volume up/down/mute) from the TiVo remote.

(A couple of different issues here: firstly, being a US remote, you might not find a remote code that correctly operates your TV; secondly, if you do find one, then putting TiVo2 into standby will also switch off your TV.

Neither of these are a problem for me, as I'm not bothered about trying to control the TV from the TiVo remote - I still need the TV remote to switch it on in the first place. I'm just pleased to have one less remote kicking around...)