Welcome to the  TiVo FAQ

Most of this FAQ is reprinted with permission from excellent posts by members at AVSForum.  Thanks to Michael Schwab for his hard work putting it together and posting and for permission to reprint it.  Also thanks to Brian Porter for adding many fine additions. 

Before you get started, you might want to read the FAQ on the TiVo web site: http://www.tivo.com/what/faq.html if you haven't already.  Then come back here, and we will continue where that FAQ left off!   If you still have questions that haven't been answered or ideas on how to improve the FAQ send them here  info@jriver.com or post them on AVSForum.com

   What other online resources are available for TiVo

There are a number of places online that you can purchase the Philips TiVo.   Here are the ones I have found.  I do not endorse any of these sources as I have not personally purchased from them.

What is TiVo?
TiVO is a new PTR (Personal TV Receiver) that is being produced by a number of companies.  The first on the market is the Philips TiVo.  It comes in two flavors, 14 hour or 30 hour.   If you are unfamiliar with PTV receivers, this new technology allows for VCR like features such as recording of television while you are not home and adds many new and innovative features that help you take control of your television watching, such as live TV pause.

What is TiVo's  Privacy Policy: 
You can read their policy here http://www.tivo.com/care/privacy.html

Who is TiVolutionary ?
TiVolutionary, formerly TiVo WebMaster, AKA TiVo Evangelist, Admiral in the TiVo Navy, or R.B. (Richard Bullwinkle) is a TiVo employee, and his job is actually to monitor this forum, answer questions for us (often the same questions over and over again), and help us resolve problems.  He also gets to play with the newest software updates long before the rest of us common folk, and he frequently torments us with obscure hints about features we donıt yet have ( :) )!  Richard is a wonderful asset to this community, is greatly valued by all of us, and he is dedicated to TiVo and this forum. So, NEVER ask Richard if he is listening, if he is there, etc., as this is an insult to his dedication. His email is: tivolutionary@tivo.com

Who is JAB?
JAB (Jim) is NOT a TiVo employee, although his insight and frequent postings make many believe that he is!  As he says, he is just another user like us, although he has multiple TiVos and Dish receivers, as well as a DishPlayer! He also gets to Beta test new TiVo software releases, and has insights (and torments) of his own to share.  His post count rivals Richard's, and his contribution is also greatly appreciated (especially since he doesn't get paid for this!) :)

What Does Lifetime Service Mean?
This subject seems to bring more arguments / discussions / heated debates / threatened legal action than any other topic.

From the TiVo.com FAQ ( http://www.tivo.com/what/faq.html ):
Lifetime Service:

  • Applies to the lifetime of the receiver (not of the subscriber).

  • Remains in effect after storage capacity upgrades by the manufacturer or an authorized vendor.

  • Remains in effect when the receiver is repaired or replaced during service by the manufacturer or an authorized vendor.

  • Accompanies the receiver in case of ownership transfer.

  • Cannot be transferred to a receiver from a different manufacturer or to a receiver with a different model number.

  • Each receiver purchased requires its own service subscription

For TiVos purchased before January 21, 2000, you get a one-time exception to the rules, allowing you to move your lifetime subscription to a new machine you purchase as a replacement (such as a bigger unit). This was done because there was so much confusion, and the wording before that date was more vague.

If you care to wade through them, here are just a few of the past threads on the subject (warning, parental discretion is advised! :) ):

  Whatıs in 2.0?

According to Richard and Jim, the upcoming software release 2.0 will give us everything we could possibly want! :)  2.0 will give us world peace, solve world hunger, and might cure cancer (not sure if that made the spec list or not).  However, in spite of repeated requests, 2.0 will not clean the kitchen sink. 

From that press release:
"The upgrade that includes TiVomatic recording will be delivered to TiVo subscribers in the first quarter of 2000." - That would be 1.3, which is already released.
"Additional features are scheduled for delivery to subscribers by the end of the year." - That's the 2.0 part.


  What's new in TiVo 1.3? Update
 See the new Life With TiVo 1.3 page for details

   When is 2.0 going to be released?
 They won't give us a confirmed date, but 3rd or 4th quarter this year is what is usually mentioned.

  Is there a way to add padding to the recording times (see 2.0 - Overtime Scheduler)

  I want to prioritize conflicting season passes (see 2.0 - Season Pass Prioritizer)

  Setup themes, genres, actors, look for shows that are not yet scheduled   (see 2.0 - TiVo WishList search technology)

Does TiVo have a 30 Second Skip / Commercial skip
ReplayTV, and many VCRs, have a 30 second skip ahead feature, usually used to skip over commercials.  TiVo does not, and this gives rise to many debates between skip and fast-forward w/auto roll-back.  The debate about 30 second skip rages on:


What Fast Forward Speeds are available?
TiVo's three fast-forward speeds are 3x, 20x, and 60x real time.

Can I Save/extend the 30-minute buffer
TiVo records the last 30 minutes of the channel you are on.  Many think this time should be adjustable, as ReplayTV's buffer is much longer.  Another complaint is that the buffer is dumped if you change channels, even accidentally.  Read on, if you dare:

Can I Undelete a program I have deleted?
Many have suggested that you should be able to get back a show you deleted too quickly?  Currently this feature isn't available

Does TiVo encode MTS Stereo on RF Output?
No.  I found a topic which answers this question.


Can I hide channels I don't watch?
Yes, you can hide any channels that you don't watch.  Just access setup from TiVo central


Can you upgrade the hard drive?

Yes you can.  Philips has recently created a program to upgrade 14 hour TiVo's  You must return the unit to Philips, but fast turn-around times are available.

Bad Battery Problem
A few people have confirmed that their TiVo's backup battery does not work reliably.  After a power-failure to the TiVo, symptoms include message that say you haven't gotten updates for years, etc.  Here's some recent postings on the subject:

"The backup battery is only used for the internal clock.
All the other information (listings data, etc.) is stored on the hard drive and will survive a reboot.  The primary symptom of a bad battery is that, after a power failure (or pulling the plug and then plugging it back in), the TiVo gets confused as to when it should call next. Forcing a call will reset the clock.  Apparently 1.3 resolves this significantly by handling the problem more gracefully. Instead of getting confused by the clock reset, it knows to call in ASAP (I think).  So to test it, pull the plug, plug your TiVo back in, and then see how long your TiVo thinks it has been since it called home."

"If you really want to test it out (and don't care about having to re-enter all of your passes) you can just unplug you unit and wait a few seconds. Then plug it back in. If after booting up your units complains about not having dialed-in in 3000 days or so, then you have a backup battery problem. If everything recovers properly, and all of your passes are still there and active, then you are fine."

Actually peter I don't think that's entirely true. When TiVo reboots and the date/time is wrong, it automatically updates you season passes and since they are all outdated they either get deleted or broken in a way that you have to re-enter them.  Recovery is not as simple as manually dialing in."

"You are both right. 1.21 reboots and changes settings based on the time which irreparably harms your season passes. To get the guide data back you must make two test calls and one daily call.
In 1.3 TiVo does nothing if it detects no guide data and asks you to call. It still takes three calls to get everything back working ( the suggestions are the last to come back). Although the 1.3 version is better, it is still a pain in the Butt. The best solution is to clean the battery contact and have the software fix as a backup plan."

Xaa

"If your daring enough, you can solve your own problem. Take the case off the TiVo. (don't worry, the warranty sticker peels off easy, pop the battery out and polish the sticky goop on the battery contact. Put the bat back in and replace the top. Your issue is solved. Now to get back going, just make two test calls and a daily call. You will never lose your data again.  BTW the software fix is really just a bandaid. (I have 1.3 and had the bad battery contact). When you lose power, it comes back up and tells you to force a call. It doesn't cause the havoc that 1.2.1 causes, but it will be three calls and two days until your suggestions are back under 1.3. My advice, clean your contact."

Xaa

Which may violate your warranty?

Banner Changing Tip
While watching Live TV, pressing the right arrow repeatedly cycles you through three different TiVo program banners:
1. The blue banner that runs across the top of the screen.
2. The blue banner plus a large, transparent description box that fills most of the screen.
3. A tiny blue banner only in the top right corner, with the channel number and name. (Still covers up the Dish channel number, of course!)

If you're watching something from Now Showing, you only get numbers 1. and 2., for some reason!

Phone Dialing Times
 From "Phone Dialing Times Keep Moving":
"As far as Tivo dial times, here's as near as I can see how it works:

  • Tivo has a set time to begin.

  • At that time, Tivo does a bunch of housekeeping, which averages around 30 minutes, then makes the call.

  • Call duration is from 15-45 minutes, generally, depending on how many channels you have. DTV takes 45 usually, but can take forever if it gets the whole lineup.

  • Tivo then indexes/sorts/etc.

  • Once this is complete, Tivo sets the next call to be current time (time of ending) + 24 hours. Since the process takes 2-4 hours, time of ending = time of begin + 2 to 4 hours. There's no random function involved in the time setting.
    If the call fails at any point, Tivo reschedules for x hours from the time of point of failure. This seems to be 2 hours later, but I don't get a failure that often so I don't know."

Posted by Otto

Thanks, Otto, for the best description I have seen about how dialing works. My experience seems to confirm this exactly. As a side effect (as Peter Creath pointed out), you can tell how long your TiVo took to process the last call by subtracting 24 hours from the difference between "Last successful call" and "Next scheduled call":
"So, for example, if you see:

Last successful call: Wed Mar 29 7:21 am
Next scheduled call: Thu Mar 30 9:03 am

That means the Wednesday call took 1 hr 42 min to process."

Peter Creath

During liveTV TiVo's sound is out of synch with the video.
While this does occur infrequently, and can be fixed by a simple pause then play, the most common cause of this symptom is incorrect wiring. The audio from your Cable/DSS box MUST be fed through your TiVo receiver and NOT directly to your receiver or TV. This is due to TiVo constantly buffering live TV and inducing a ~1 second delay. If the audio being listened to is NOT the audio output of TiVo, the audio will be leading the video.

My cable box (typically a GI DCT-XXXX) continually drops the first digit of a channel change.
If you enable the "Use 3 digit channel numbers" & "Send enter after channel change" this will help decrease the frequency of incorrect channel changes. As many of the channel changes on cable are in the double digits, those will be prefaced with a 0. If the 0 is received the channel change will occur properly. If the zero is dropped and the second 2 numbers are received, the enter will complete the channel change properly.

This will NOT help if the second or 3 or more than 1 digit is missed. It will help if you find that the first digit is the most often dropped digit.

How do I jump between two channels.
When in live TV the enter button acts as a jump to the previously viewed channel.

I hate having to unplug my TiVo to do a reboot when the need for it arises (which is rare)
In the Setup menus is an often for TiVo receiver start. MAKE SURE not to select full system reset as this will wipe you TiVo of all information. Use the Restart Receiver option.

My receiver says "Pending Restart" in the last call status
This means you have a received a software upgrade. Either manually restart the receiver from the menu or by pulling the plug or wait until 2AM the next morning when it will restart on its' own.


TiVo dialing problems, including with wireless phone jacks:
 "On a side note, TiVo is hypersensitive to line noise, so call waiting WILL interrupt TiVo, unless you've set the TiVo to dial the single time call-waiting disable code (*70 most places)."

Posted by Otto

Most people having problems with either poor line quality or wireless phone jacks find that turning off the dial tone and busy line detection in the TiVo phone setup improves the situation.

What formats and standards is TiVo compatible with.

  • TiVo is only compatible with a Standard Definition NTSC signal.

  • TiVo well recognize and output a stereo signal.  This preserves the Dolby Pro Logic audio that is often matrixed into the signal but will not record or output an AC3 or Dolby Digital audio stream.

  • TiVo passes (does not strip) macrovision from the outputs.

  • TiVo does record and pass Closed Captioning


The two indicator LED's on the front seem to change colors, what are their meanings?

The left LED has two color states.

  • Green - Power to TiVo

  • Yellow - Receiving IR

The right LED also has two color states

  • Red - Receiver is recording (other than live TV)

  • Yellow - TiVo is dialing in

  • Orange - The receiver is recording AND the TiVo is dialing in.


Can I record over the air or cable broadcasts?  

Yes you can.  TiVo has a built in Encoder.  This means that you can record any source you can connect including over the air antenna, cable and satellite.  Keep in mind that unlike PTV receivers with a build in satellite receiver, TiVo must compress the signal.  TiVo gives you options to record at varying levels of quality.
    

Recording Mode

 14 Hour Unit

30 Hour Unit

 Basic - Maximum compression - OK for simple pictures such as animation.

14 Hours

30 Hours

 Medium - Moderate compression - OK for most recording on small screens

8 hours

18 Hours

 High - Moderate compression - Great on small TV's, necessary on large TV's

 6 Hours

14 Hours

 Best - Minimal compression - Maximum quality, necessary for fast action.

4 hours

9 hours

    

What is the difference between the Philips and Upcoming Sony?  

With the release of the Philips HDR31201, which has one drive instead of two, very little is different.  Basically the differences are  1. Different Case - Sony is Silver  2. Different Backgrounds on the screens  3. Different Remote Control.

Does TiVo have a universal remote.

Well, Yes and No.  You can set it up to control the Power and Volume on you Television or you can set it up to control volume of a Receiver or Preamp.  However, it can't be set up to control other devices.

TiVo Remote.jpg (116740 bytes)

Thanks, but I still have questions?  

If this web site wasn't able to answer all of your questions, feel free to send us a quick question to be added to the list