All working well for a month, now 23 failed calls in a row!

[DX30]

Yes, provided it is the correct type. Some drives won't work in a TiVo, and SATA drives will need a suitable adapter. Search around the forum and you'll find details of suitable drives.

If you want the minimum hassle you can buy prepared drives from tivoland.

http://www.tivoland.com/accessories/index.html

[and_101]

My mother lives in Jersey too, and she is having problems. Her TiVo has just run out of data. I had to switch her to use the Manchester number a month or so ago, which worked but now she has failed calls. I'm not sure what the failure is, as trying to diagnose over the phone with your 71 year old Mum is not easy!

Anyway I've just got her to do a test call and that was successful. Then we have restarted the TiVo and it is currently downloading the data from the Manchester number. She is going to let me know what happens later.

Interesting in regard to the comments about VOIP as I know Jersey Telecom is switching over from analog copper to fibre into the home. My mother was "converted" a few weeks ago. She has fibre into her flat then a powered box to convert it to a conventional analog phone signal. I'm not sure whether she has managed to make a successful daily call since then.

I can see I may have to convert my old unused TiVo to use a network card and send it to her - that will be fun!

[garyc]

hi arr interesting we are both having the same problems!!

I tried the ",#096,,01612329094,," tonight and it connected and downloaded the data.

so thanks for your help but think i too will be looking to network

cheers gary

[ByTheCringe]

I tried the ",#096,,01612329094,," tonight and it connected and downloaded the data.

It would be worth trying this use of a slower modem speed to see if it could possibly help those of us who are getting occasional hangs on the 0161 number. It would mean longer calls though. How much slower would the #096 prefix make the dialup call? Am I right in assuming it means use 9600bps? What is the standard rate, please? I had thought that the modem speed was selected atomatically as part of the call, depending on the line quality, cos I find the call duration for a certain number of days of data sometimes varies.

[millsb]

What is the standard rate, please?

57600 I believe. But whether any modem actually achieves that rate, I don't know.

[DX30]

It would be worth trying this use of a slower modem speed to see if it could possibly help those of us who are getting occasional hangs on the 0161 number.

I did try this and it certainly doesn't prevent the hangs. Whether it helps or not is difficult to say - my impression was it didn't but given the hangs are somewhat random I didn't really try long enough to get a statistically valid result.

I did find one very unexpected result and that is the hard drive used in the TiVo seemed to have a big effect. With SATA drives I was getting hangs on the majority of calls, but when I switched to IDE drives the frequency of hangs dropped to one every couple of weeks. I replicated this result on two different TiVo's running AltEPG 1.0d with 2 SATA and 4 IDE drives.

This does not make sense to me. Perhaps it is the power requirements of drives. Maybe it is more to do with drive size - the SATA drives were > 500GB, the IDE drives < 250GB.

I mention it in case it rings any bells with anyone. If there are users who does not ever get hangs using the 0161 number perhaps they could post the model of hard drive in that TiVo and see if there is any correlation.

How much slower would the #096 prefix make the dialup call? Am I right in assuming it means use 9600bps?

Yes. Other rates are possible but for VOIP the lower the better.

What is the standard rate, please? I had thought that the modem speed was selected atomatically as part of the call, depending on the line quality, cos I find the call duration for a certain number of days of data sometimes varies.

The modems do negotiate the speed. By default the TiVo modem uses V.34, which has a maximum speed of 33.6 kbits.

You can use a #090 prefix turn on V.90 which theoretically gives a maximum of 56 kbits but ISTR that is only achievable locally (i.e. if the modem on the other end is in the local exchange).

[ByTheCringe]

Thanks very much each for the data. No point in trying a slower speed then. Oh well...

Intrigued by the effect of differing HDD sizes - I had always assumed that the these hangs were something to do with the dialup host, but I suppose something in the TiVo could trigger them. I think my HDD is 250GB, and is certainly an IDE job.

[DX30]

The dialup host is obviously a factor - I never saw a TiVo hang on the old TiVo service, or on the 0845 number with AltEPG. My suspicion is there is something in the ppp layer when connected the 0161 number that ends up crashing the TiVo but what exactly I don't know. When I have the time I want to try changing some of the ppp options on the TiVo end to see if they make a difference.

The disk type/size effect I saw could be down to changes in the TiVo memory layout as the size increases but the truth is I really have no clue why - it came as a total surprise to me and caused me to try all my spare drives one after another to see if it was really happening that way.

[The Larch]

You can use a #090 prefix turn on V.90 which theoretically gives a maximum of 56 kbits but ISTR that is only achievable locally (i.e. if the modem on the other end is in the local exchange).

In danger of going off-topic, but that's not quite right, since the call is handled digitally between the local exchange and the ISP, so there's no loss of quality. What limits the speed is the length and quality of the line from house to exchange. As you say, nobody ever gets 56k!

[elphinwhite]

I've been away for a while, came back to find my TiVo all out of data too, with no successful call for over a month. Test calls always work, but on the 0845 number I always got a call failed status (as others have described) after a few minutes.

So I changed to the 0161 number, again the test call worked, but last night my TiVo froze during downloading. So I had to switch the power off at the socket to get it to restart this morning, since when it seems, incredibly, to have downloaded guide data fine from the 0161 number.

I have no idea what I may have done or not, but it does now seem to be working.

So I just wanted to say I'm feeling your pain (sleepless night worrying that my TiVo was terminally ill) but am now happy and confused

Thanks for keeping the dream alive, guys, AltEPG hugely appreciated.

[and_101]

Emergency phone call from my Mother in Jersey,she is nearly out of program data now using the 0161 number. The error she gets is call interrupted. I'll try getting her to change the connection speed to a slower one and see if that makes a difference. Jersey Telecom's "new fibre" service has a lot to answer for if it is the case. My mother says her TiVo is the best present she was ever given!

[healeydave]

I'm afraid once the telecoms companies start changing exchange equipment that is not very friendly to the old legacy modem technology, the best option is to get the TiVo networked where at all possible. For reliability and eradication of call costs, it's our highly recommended course of action for AltEPG!

[and_101]

In that case I shall see about networking my old TiVo. Test it and send it over to her.

[abarthman]

Is there any reasonable prospect of this (or another) 0845 number working again in the future?

The calls to the 0161 number are costing me almost ten times as much as calls to an 0845 number, so I'll really have to get myself a network card if there's no prospect.

[DX30]

Is there any reasonable prospect of this (or another) 0845 number working again in the future?

The calls to the 0161 number are costing me almost ten times as much as calls to an 0845 number, so I'll really have to get myself a network card if there's no prospect.

Are you running the AltEPG image? If so there is a 2nd 0845 number you can try (I can't remember it offhand but ISTR it is in the FAQ).

You can modify a normal TiVo to do the same following the advice here

viewtopic.php?f=16&t=669

You can probably use other dialup isp's in a similar way by substituting the relevant phone number, username and password. When I Googled "payg dial-up internet access" several possibilities came up.