Direct Tivo series 2 losing channels

[pete_c]

Just a note relating to any folks that still have a series two SD Direct Tivo.

DTV has changed their stuff such that local channels started to drop a couple of days ago. That said found out that I needed to update my DTivo software from 6.2 to 6.4 (still old).

In order to get your local channels back I did the following.

1 - ran slicer such that I updated to the newest 6.4 software. It seems to have trashed my hacks a bit so I
2 - ran tweak dot sh to reinstall all of the modifications
3 - installed newest tivowebplus and modded profile such that it would load newest tivoweb plus.

painless upgrade other than losing MRV.

Before doing this called DTV and only options offered by CS were to upgrade to a DTV DVR keeping monthly costs the same. I said no.

The other option was to upgrade to a "leased" new Tivo HD DVR. Total cost was around $120 (odd that I would have to purchase a leased box?) and monthly would have gone up $15. I said no.

That said broadcast TV comes into the house via OTA, Comcast Cable and DTV.

Really hopefully get Verizon FIOS and or AT&T Uverse here in the MW soon. Comcast has no local competition in our subdivision.

Personally I do not believe that HD content should be an "extra" cost as its pretty much now manditory for broadcasters.

 

[wuench]

I switched to the DTV DVR's a long time ago. They really aren't too bad and HA-wise they now have petty good control options via JSON over HTTP. They also have whole-home DVR and can play "some" video/pics/audio from UPnP sources. And now the new HD interface. The only things you'll really lose are suggestions and having to cope with 30 second slip instead of 30 second skip. But eventually you you are going to have to do something as DTV abandons it's old SATs which operate on different bands than the old ones. You probably have a lot of newer channels you can't even get now.

IMHO swapping out for a DTV DVR would be an upgrade.

 

[pete_c]

Understood there wuench.

I really don't watch TV (mostly never OTA, Comcast nor DTV) other than movies.

Never used HA for any media in this house whether its audio or video. I may entertain doing something with the touchscreens some day related to maybe audio. I already utilize an NMT which goes to the TVersity box to stream audio to the master bedroom bathroom. I wouldn't mind a touch screen though in the master bathroom to do what I already do with the NMT.

Wife watches and records with SD Tivo. So the update to the older Series 2 was just a WAF thing.

It doesn't matter to her whether the pictures is snowy sd or hd; just a content thing.

It's Judge Judy, Dr. Phil, local news, Survivor, etc for my wife.

Trash TV (or content) for me.

 

[pete_c]

Its now been over 24 hours since I have upgraded the software. Funny though that the DTV customer service representative told me to do a "call back" where as I found out the software update isn't really available because its a few years old.

The software update is removing the MRV features of the box (taking it from version 6.2 to 6.4). I updated my box using a purchased piece of software called Slicer ( a 64k $20 piece of software worth the price; stuck it in my Tivo /bin directory). The update was already sitting on my box.

Slicer was supposed to preserve my tweaks; but it didn't so I had to mod my box again using a modifiy tweaker dot sh script. I also added the newest TivoWebPlus application while doing this. My spare backup Tivo drive still has software version 6.2 on it. So will be pulling this updated drive and imaging it to the "hot" spare drive after the update.

[6.4-TiVo/var/hack/bin$ echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh
Directory of /SwSystem starting at ''
Name Type FsId Date Time Size
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
6.2-01-2-321 tyDb 3965 04/20/12 09:57 696
6.4a-01-2-121 tyDb 1021055 04/20/12 09:57 804
ACTIVE tyDb 1021055 04/20/12 09:57 804
[6.4-TiVo/var/hack/bin$

The service interuption is just occurring in the Chicagoland region. It was a nation wide issue and its already been resolved with the software update in California, Washington, Colorado and Maryland from what I can see but not in Chicago yet.

A service call said that they are aware and working on the issues; meanwhile dealing with WAF.

Interesting still though that first call to DTV customer service stated that the solution was to "upgrade" to the DTV DVR box or pay for an upgraded service contract and an up front $120 charge to lease a new Tivo box.

 

[pete_c]

Another anecdotal note relating to DTV's customer service debacle was/is that the Chicago DTV CS representative knew that the "updated" 6.4 software was not available in the data stream nor via dial up; yet they continue tell customers to download something that doesn't exist to shorten their MTR.

What a joke.

 

[Ccostan]

Pete_C,

So is DTV working to correct this on thier side? Or is the 6.4 upgrade necessary? I am in NYC and have 2 units affected. Haven't called DTV Customer service yet.

Thanks.
CARLO.

http://About.Me/ccostan

 

[pete_c]

Carlo,

Don't bother with calling DTV. Initially all they did was try to sell me on their new DTV DVR's. Then then wanted to try a truck roll. Finally after about 1.5 hours they said I needed to download via the telephone the 6.4A upgrade; only thing was that it wasn't available. So they basically were making me spin my wheels for nothing and having their MTR reset.

DTV is aware of the issue and may have already put the retro 6.4A software update back in the stream (to download via telephone call). Its really just faster to get it and install it yourself.

That said. Here's the step by step. You will need to upgrade to software 6.4A to get the local channels as they have changed the data stream such that the 6.2 or 6.3 local channels will not work.

1 - Check to see first if you already have version 6.4A in your directory.
To see if you have the slices, you must telnet to your unit and type:

echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh

and you should see something like this, if they are there:

Name Type FsId Date Time Size
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
6.2a-01-2-301 tyDb 4808 09/17/08 03:44 700
6.4a-01-2-101 tyDb 57916 09/17/08 04:29 780
6.4a-01-2-121 tyDb 59454 09/17/08 04:33 780
6.4a-01-2-151 tyDb 60911 09/17/08 04:53 804
6.4a-01-2-381 tyDb 55725 09/17/08 04:53 780
6.4a-01-2-521 tyDb 64304 09/17/08 04:46 780
ACTIVE tyDb 60911 09/17/08 04:53 804

2 - What you are seeing are ALL the slices on my own unit which have been dbloaded. Also note that in the aforementioned snippet, the unit has already been updated to 6.4a (you can see this by seeing which software version is 'active.'

If you DON'T have the slices, I've made them available with some easy to use scripts (thanks to an anonymous donor) which can be run as follows from the telnet prompt:

In this example, the unit in question has a service ID that beings with a 351.

wget -O /var/packages/getslice http://www.dvrupgrad...e-6.4a-01-2-351

3 - and after the file is downloaded, do the following:

cd /var/packages
sh ./getslice

This will grab the slices specific to your unit and when they are done loaded, you will see them listed (similar to above).
4 - Another method of doing this with an already networked unit, and that will preserve your network settings and most of your hacks, is by using a product you must purchase, called "the slicer" -- once you've ftp'ed the binary onto your unit, you can simply type:

./slicer 6.4a-01-2-151 -d

if the slices are NOT on your unit, or don't use the -d option if they are already there. Pretty straightforward.

I purchased the little 61K program called slicer for $19.99. Remember to do a binary FTP transfer and set your permissions on the file. I used Filezilla for the transfer and Putty to telnet.
It is here:
http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/slicer_nomodel.cfm

I updated the software myself
After updating the software you have to clear all of your saved programming and ToDo list. You will lose MRV. It took my DTivo about 4 hours to clear my saved programming and ToDo list. I did not lose any of the saved TV shows. Major WAF here.

If you have modded your DTivo box then you will also lose the mods except for telnet. I just reran the "superscript" and got everything back.

 

[Ccostan]

Pete,

Thanks for the EXTREMELY DETAILED instructions. GREAT! .. I have found that the HIGH channels available to the NY market (390 - 400) are still working for the local channels. Any word on whether these will go dark in the short/medium term? If they are stick,ing around, i'll probably just readjust the season passes to use the higher numbers.

Thanks again for the helpful notes. they are GREAT!

CARLO.
http://ABOUT.ME/CCOSTAN

 

[pete_c]

No problem Carlo. I do not know about the higher channels in the NY market. I think it was some weird new FCC regulation relating to what changed in the data stream.