Old EPG STILL Here.

[Tivosteve]

Hi

tried the orig tivo number today but comes up as call failed.
Had not tried it since weekend because it stays connected the crashes tivo on some test calls during weekend so left phone cable unplugged with the hope of working again this weekend

Steve

[Pete77]

Total conjecture. Why not just stick with the factually accurate

rather than making up theories which have no supporting factual evidence at all, and are in all likelhood total nonsense.

Rather than just criticise the efforts of others in trying to explain the inconsistent behaviour of the Tivo servers in allowing connection only some of the time on the 020 and 0845 numbers why not apply your own allegedly sophisticated level of IT knowledge to offer a more technically based explanation of what is going on.

But no you have no better explanation of your own to offer even though such inconsistent behaviour by a dial up connection is surely both bizarre and unusual.

[spitfires]

But no you have no better explanation of your own to offer

Of course not - no-one knows the answer. I'm certainly not going to simply invent an answer out of thin air as you have done, or else you for one would be demanding "proof" and "facts" to back up the theory. At least I am not misleading people into believing I know the answer when it is simply made-up nonsense. I certainly would never invent something just to try and appear more knowledgeable than I really am.

even though such inconsistent behaviour by a dial up connection is surely both bizarre and unusual.

Far from it. I'm sure you remember (in the days before broadband) the fun we used to have with modems failing to connect for no reason whatsoever. Re-dial straightaway and it would work. Bizarre? The TiVo's modem design is over 12 years old!

[Pete77]

Far from it. I'm sure you remember (in the days before broadband) the fun we used to have with modems failing to connect for no reason whatsoever. Re-dial straightaway and it would work. Bizarre? The TiVo's modem design is over 12 years old!

When it could connect on the 0808 number my dialup Tivo seemed to complete a successful daily call 95% of the time or better. Why should that suddenly deteriorate to only 20% to 30% of the time on the 0845 and 020 numbers?

Or do we think that the connection path through to Tivo from these dialup PoPs is more tortuous and therefore unreliable than that available from the built in 0808 number it used to call?

Also if people did not speculate about things that they do not currently have proven facts for then surely science would never have progressed very far over the last few hundred years. It would of course be stubborn and unreasonable to continue to hold an opinion or idea which known and available facts completely contradict.

[IBP]

Or do we think that the connection path through to Tivo from these dialup PoPs is more tortuous and therefore unreliable than that available from the built in 0808 number it used to call?

I think tivomas commented on the dialup thread that tivo modems were connecting to the 01274 number at varying speeds, with some calls failing. That's what happens with dialup, easy to forget in these days of always on broadband.

[Pete77]

I think tivomas commented on the dialup thread that tivo modems were connecting to the 01274 number at varying speeds, with some calls failing. That's what happens with dialup, easy to forget in these days of always on broadband.

Dialup modems are a little bit unreliable if the line quality is poor.

That doesn't explain the huge difference in reliability for calls to the 0808 number built in to the software and the 020 and 0845 UUnet numbers that people have been inserting in to the dial prefix code. All Tivo users who have tried this have had the same experience of a massive decrease in connection success.

[mrtickle]

Far from it. I'm sure you remember (in the days before broadband) the fun we used to have with modems failing to connect for no reason whatsoever. Re-dial straightaway and it would work. Bizarre? The TiVo's modem design is over 12 years old!

When it could connect on the 0808 number my dialup Tivo seemed to complete a successful daily call 95% of the time or better. Why should that suddenly deteriorate to only 20% to 30% of the time on the 0845 and 020 numbers?

What's the point in asking the same thing again in a different way? In other words, which part of "no-one knows the answer" are you having difficulty with?

All Tivo users who have tried this have had the same experience

LOL, an obviously false sweeping statement.

[spitfires]

When it could connect on the 0808 number my dialup Tivo seemed to complete a successful daily call 95% of the time or better. Why should that suddenly deteriorate to only 20% to 30% of the time on the 0845 and 020 numbers?

Read what I wrote - I'm not denying that some people are having a problem with the non-0808 number; what I am refuting is your theory about "selective modem protocols" which you repeatedly state as though it was fact.

Also if people did not speculate about things that they do not currently have proven facts for then surely science would never have progressed very far over the last few hundred years.

Simply repeating your theory over and over and over and over again doesn't make it any less nonsense. Merely irritating.

Or do we think that the connection path through to Tivo from these dialup PoPs is more tortuous and therefore unreliable than that available from the built in 0808 number it used to call?

Quite possibly. There could be any one of loads of reasons. Perhaps a 25% success rate is the norm but the 0808 was 'enhanced' to achieve 95%? (Certainly I never achieved 95% using dial-up in the days before broadband.) You need to know where the 0808 terminated; how did it route there; did it forward to the epg servers or was it directly connected; which transatlantic carrier did it use; was it matched to the TiVo's modem.

Yes that last one suggests that modems can be matched - of course they can: we used to do it all the time. (For example, it was well known that USR modems only connected reliably with Pace or other USR modems.) But that does NOT suggest that

some modems that take the call on this number are still configured for Tivo's access protocols and others are not.

You might as well suggest that TiVo Inc. have deliberately changed their server software so that it only accepts 1 in 4 of every dial-in call from a UK TiVo and deliberately drops the rest. Has every bit as much credibility as your theory! Oh and VM told them to do this (just to feed your 'conspiracy theorist type mindset').

In short we simply don't know and making up theories (which are then promoted as fact) is at best a pointless waste of time, and at worst misleading.


p.s. I'd be interested to know how you derived your figure of "95%" success rate on the 0808 number - did you read the TiVo's logfile every day? Or did you just make that figure up.

[Pete77]

p.s. I'd be interested to know how you derived your figure of "95%" success rate on the 0808 number - did you read the TiVo's logfile every day? Or did you just make that figure up.

No I derived it from the number of occasions on which I saw Succeeded compared to Failed for the Last Call on the System Information screen my dialup Tivo which I would review on a regular basis every few days.

This all seems to come down to sour grapes by certain AltEPG supporters (including especially yourself and the inappropriately named mrtickle who in practice seems more like mrgrumpy) that I am encouraging anyone to continue using the Tivo EPG for so long as it remains available rather than immediately switching over to using their still embryonic service. Perhaps there is even a fear by certain AltEPGers that Tivo will never discontinue EPG service through these other back door access methods.

[mikerr]

sour grapes by certain AltEPG supporters ... Perhaps there is even a fear by certain AltEPGers that Tivo will never discontinue EPG service through these other back door access methods.

You're tilting at windmills again - it would be much easier for everyone if the old service continued
- but realisticly we're just seeing the service being dismantled slowly, we may even see it run out of data before it stops answering network calls.

[Pete77]

- but realisticly we're just seeing the service being dismantled slowly, we may even see it run out of data before it stops answering network calls.

Why will it run out of data when it is still being fed with new data every single day from Tribune Media Services and they are under contract to continue providing that UK EPG data for the use of Virgin Media Tivos?

It is however self evident how Series 1 Tivos could be cut off regardless of the method by which we connect to Tivo's servers but I am certainly not gong to state what that method is if it isn't obvious to Tivo.

[ByTheCringe]

Dialup modems are a little bit unreliable if the line quality is poor.

That doesn't explain the huge difference in reliability for calls to the 0808 number built in to the software and the 020 and 0845 UUnet numbers that people have been inserting in to the dial prefix code. All Tivo users who have tried this have had the same experience of a massive decrease in connection success.

Apart from last weekend, and we only have supposition for any explanation for the failures then, I have a 100% success rate with the 0207 number.

[Pete77]

Apart from last weekend, and we only have supposition for any explanation for the failures then, I have a 100% success rate with the 0207 number.

This sounds a bit like a train company saying that "we have 100% punctuality apart from the days on which our trains are late".........

[IBP]

It is however self evident how Series 1 Tivos could be cut off regardless of the method by which we connect to Tivo's servers but I am certainly not gong to state what that method is if it isn't obvious to Tivo.

Go on, you know you want to

[ByTheCringe]

Apart from last weekend, and we only have supposition for any explanation for the failures then, I have a 100% success rate with the 0207 number.

This sounds a bit like a train company saying that "we have 100% punctuality apart from the days on which our trains are late".........

The point is, the line may only work during the week.