TiVo bug shuts out Series 1 DirecTiVo owners

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TiVo bug shuts out Series 1 DirecTiVo owners

A Slashdot post tonight points out that a recent update to the DirecTiVo operating system has induced recording errors on older Series 1 DirecTiVo units. Reports of the problems sound pretty serious, but the worst part is that the only solution appears to be upgrading to a Series 2 unit. It's currently only $79 to get a new unit, and if you push DirecTV they'll credit you the difference.

Considering how infinitely hackable Series 1 DirecTV units are compared to Series 2 units, I wonder if maybe this bug isn't being fixed to help move the subscriber base up to a more locked down unit. Seeing how the movie industry is so freaked out about video extraction, getting every series 1 TiVo user onto a series 2 box would certainly help put an end to the practice.

by Matt Haughey July 26, 2004 in News

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I'm one of the Series 1 DTivo users whose been affected by this problem. My drive is currently out being replaced under warranty by the folks at PTVupgrades, from whom I purchased an upgraded hard drive just a couple of months ago. I am really hoping that this is simply an issue of a poorly beta-testing program update and not an intentional attempt to drive Series 1 DTivos away. If my replacement drive also ends up hosed, I'll have to consider changing my programming provider. I just spent a good chunk of money on that upgraded drive 3 months ago, I use it for completely legitimate uses (primarily TiVoWeb and extracting Sesame Street videos so that my daughter can watch them on the portable DVD player when we travel). Interestingly, those uses are at least partially supported (or in pre-production stages, in the case of TiVo to Go) on Standalone TiVos, but DirecTV has refused to make Home Media Option available to DTivo owners and has not expressed any support for the forthcoming TiVo to Go. Again, I have to hope that this was just poor programming/testing - because if they are intentionally disabling a networked computer (which is all a TiVo really is), I believe that there are federal criminal statutes that may be implicated.

Posted by: AJRitz at Jul 27, 2004 10:11:44 AM

Does anyone see the _real_ news here? DirecTV issued a TiVo OS update!

At least they're working on _something_. That gives me hope we'll eventually see parity with the SA units 4.x OS and allow streaming of shows between the two types.

Posted by: Joost Schuur at Jul 27, 2004 10:35:39 AM

For those hoping for a free Series 2 unit, don't get too excited. There's been an official response.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=187042

Posted by: DOP at Jul 27, 2004 12:56:13 PM

heh, Joost, that is true that they're doing *something* now. It really, really would be nice if they enabled HMO features and network updates, my DirecTiVo hasn't called in for updates by phone in months, and I'll probably just plug it in for this update. I'd much rather prefer to use the ample 802.11g network the unit could connect to instead of a dodgy 30 foot phone cable.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Jul 27, 2004 3:38:14 PM

If they cause a problem with my Phillip's Tivo Series 1 (non-direct TV), they'll NEVER get another dime from me....I'll move to a mythtv faster than you can spell PVR.

Otherwise, I appreciate their service, and would be inclined to upgrade upon my series 1's natural death.

Posted by: Anonymous at Jul 27, 2004 5:22:15 PM

Well, if you couldn't do video extraction on Series 2 boxes, this might be a conspiracy. But it's not.

There are several hacks for Series 2 standalone and Series 2 DirecTivos that allow easy extraction. The first hack they have is one to defeat scrambling of the video on the DirecTivo.

Obviously Tivo knows about this and isn't doing much to stop it.

My Series 1 is coming up on four years in August. That a long haul for a key piece of hardware. If it died tomorrow, I'd have no problem buying a new Series 2.

Posted by: Michael at Jul 27, 2004 7:43:35 PM

My older Direct TV TiVo stopped getting local channels after an upgrade in 2002. Do you mean to say I can upgrade to a Series 2 for $79? I haven't seen that deal anywhere, do you have a link?

Posted by: Gael at Jul 28, 2004 12:32:31 PM

I did an upgrade recently and lost local channels. Called Direct TV and they reset the local channels. No problem.
Resetting the DCHP IP addy on the thing right now. I hate to reboot it, but there is no console cable... Looking at the game last night and it came up with " your tivo hasn't dialed in in 21days..." Ooops. Last power outage caused the wireless network to go down when Mr. Tivo was trying to get an IP.

Posted by: P1ng at Oct 21, 2004 2:45:30 PM

TiVo bug shuts out Series 1 DirecTiVo owners

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