[mythtv-users] tv programs that run long

Michael T. Dean mtdean at thirdcontact.com
Thu May 19 03:05:31 UTC 2005


On 05/18/05 21:07, Fedor Pikus wrote:

>On 5/18/05, Dan H Orlic <dan.orlic at gmail.com> wrote:
>  
>
>>Just thought I should let you know... I own a tivo and the same exact
>>thing happened to me.  The last moment of Gilmore Girls was cut off.  So
>>she can say that!
>>
>Tivo is only as smart as the programming data, ... Tivo does seem to push
>updates a little faster *sometimes*, but again, this is an issue with
>schedule provider, not myth itself.
>  
>
Does TiVo actually push data?  I thought TiVo got its data via a dial-up 
connection that it makes once per day.  Or, are you talking about 
DirectTiVo--which probably gets data off the satellite feed.

...

OK.  So I decided to answer the question myself.  It seems TiVo has new 
"Series 2" DVR's to which you can attach a USB network adapter (not 
provided) to allow the DVR to make use of your network.  If the network 
has a shared broadband connection, the DVR can be configured to use it 
to connect to the TiVo service.  If configured to use broadband, the DVR 
will connect to the TiVo service every hour ( 
http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2056.htm ).  If 
you do not have a TiVo series 2 or your Series 2 is not configured to 
use broadband, your DVR makes a connection via dial-up--which can take 
as much as 36 hours.

So, at this point, it started to look like TiVo with broadband access 
would in fact receive updates every hour.  Then, I found 
http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv1521.htm , which 
says that DVR's using broadband to connect to the TiVo servers will 
check for remotely-scheduled programs every 15 minutes and DVR's using 
dial-up will check at a random time once every 24 to 48 hours.  (With 
TiVo, you tell the TiVo service to record a program and the service 
tells your DVR, instead of telling your DVR directly as with Myth.)  
During these scheduled-program-checking connections, the DVR only checks 
for remotely-scheduled programs--it does *not* download any program 
guide data.  Program guide data is only retrieved at a randomly-selected 
time every 24 to 48 hours regardless of how the DVR connects to the TiVo 
service.

I couldn't find anything definitive on the DIRECTV DVR (DirecTiVo), but 
it seems that it uses dial-up to get the full guide data, but in the 
absense of a dial-up connection will use the 2-3 days of guide data 
available via the satellite.  Therefore, it seems plausible that in the 
event that schedules changed at the last minute and DIRECTV updated the 
guide data being broadcast via satellite, the DirecTiVo could receive 
and respond to the update.  Whether it actually happens that way (i.e. 
whether DIRECTV actually updates the data and whether the DVR can 
respond to changes) is a whole other question.

Therefore, it would seem that TiVo does not get updates any quicker or 
more reliably than Myth.  The DirecTiVo, OTOH, may in fact receive 
updates that are "pushed" out via satellite.

Mike

Oh, and here's my favorite (from 
http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv1521.htm? ):

For 4 to 8 hours after making your connection to the TiVo service, your 
Program Guide Data may show "TBA" with descriptions that read "Program 
titles and descriptions available soon." This means that your DVR is 
indexing. During this time, you can watch any channels and use any play 
features (fast forward, rewind, and pause). You cannot record until the 
indexing is finished.

So, at a randomly-selected time every 24-48 hours it makes a connection 
to TiVo service and then can only be used to watch TV--and not to 
record--for 4-8 hours while indexing.  Therefore, it seems that a TiVo 
is 5/6 DVR and 1/6 DVP (since for approximately 1/6 of the time, it can 
only be use to play--not to record--programs).

BTW, what could they possibly be doing during indexing that takes 4-8 
hours?  An 8088 should be able to prep guide data in less than 4-8 hours...


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