TiVo Redux
Whew!
When I got my Series 2 TiVo I had the weirdest problem. It wouldn’t pick up to dial out on the modem line, unless I picked up an extension on the same line when it dialed. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and neither could TiVo. So they sent me a replacement unit.
The new box came in and I saw the same problem! Augh! So I ran a line from my other extension back in the bedroom and it worked. After some troubleshooting I found the problem.
I have DSL at home, and on every non-DSL line I have to use analog DSL filters to exclude the DSL chatter from the rest of the phone line. With my old TiVo I had it setup so the phone line was like this: TiVo > DSL filter > phone line > phone jack. Turns out the new Series 2 TiVos have problems picking up the phone with these filters. So wiring it like this worked: TiVo > phone line > DSL filter > phone jack. Strange, but it fixed it!
Also, as my other blog entry mentioned, you can use USB ethernet for the Series 2 TiVo’s without any other drivers. I had bought a Siemen’s USB ethernet dongle, but it didn’t work on either Series 2 TiVo, although it was listed as an approved USB ethernet device. I bought the Linksys USB100M instead and that worked perfectly!
To use a USB ethernet device you have to go to the dialing prefix section of the dialing preferences in your TiVo, on the remote use “pause” “enter” 401 (which should display as ,#401 on screen). You have to be hooked up to a DHCP server on the ethernet line, and for the Series 2 TiVo to recognize the USB device you need to plug it in, then unplug the power to the TiVo. TiVo’s only look for new devices when booting from a cold boot. A simple restart or just plugging it in won’t work.
So, I now have a working Series 2 TiVo! The next step was to install a second hard drive from weaknees.com. If you’re buying a new Series 2 TiVo you MUST get the 60 hour model, not the 40 or 80 hour model. TiVo came out with the 60 hour version first, and it had brackets for two hard drives. The 40 & 80 hour models came next, and they only have one bracket for a single hard drive, so upgradiing is much harder.
Update 6/14/2004: TiVo now offers the Home Media Option for free! Check out details here. All you need now is a supported wireless or wired adapter . They also have instructions for connecting to an existing network.
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