Tivo Serial Problem - Please Help!!!

[normal_kinda_guy]

hey everyone.
how yall doing?

i have now had my tivo for just over 2 months...and i have just been away for 8 weeks =P

before i left i had tivo working perfectly set up to download guide data through serial cable. when i left i unplugged it all coz my family didnt have a clue what to do =P

when i got back i went to set it up again. whiole i was away we got a new computer so i had to set up the serial configs for the new computer.
but there is a problem...
for some reason it just wont connect.
i tried doing the hyper terminal thing. i tried several different speed and all it came up with was garbage.
i couldnt find the "user request" in any of them.

does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? i would really like to use my tivo again.

thanks and cyaz!

ps. im getting a network card as soon as they are in stock but i would like to get serial working now =)

[petestrash]

Hi Peter,

It's unlikely to be the TiVo, if you haven't changed any settings on it.

A few of things to confirm and check.

1. You have modified the mdmhayes.inf on the new PC's
2. You are still using a null modem adapter or have wired the cable as a
null modem
3. You have confirmed the PC's serial port and cable are working using the
paper clip loopback test
4. you are using 57600 baud on the PC, not 115200 as the picture shows and
have flow control set to none.

It's also worth trying a reboot of the TiVo, once the PC is setup and
waiting for an incoming connection.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

hey peter,

1. i have definitely modified the mdmhayes.inf file.
2. okay i dont know what ur on about here =P i just bought this cable off Darren =P
3. as i posted above the cable and serial port must work because when i use hyperterminal its comes up with stuff.
4. yes i am using 57600 baud on my computer

as i say....garbage is coming up on hyperterminal....doesnt this mean something is happening?

Peter

OMG!!!!! WOULD NOT DELETING THE CORROSPONDING PNF HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT NOT WORKING????

okay that didnt work either....im posting a pic of what comes up in hyperterminal when i put COM2, 57600....this is from when im booting up then it just keeps going and going
http://img218.imageshack.us/img218/3735/untitled8lk1.jpg

[petestrash]

2. okay i dont know what ur on about here =P i just bought this cable off Darren =P

I think the cable Darren supplies is a straight serial cable. I think it usually comes with a null modem dongle on the 9pin end. It won't work successfully without the dongle attached.


as i say....garbage is coming up on hyperterminal....doesnt this mean something is happening?
Looking at PPP via hyperterminal does look like garbage (Also garbage can look like garbage :) ). The paperclip test will show if you are passing correct info via the serial port.


OMG!!!!! WOULD NOT DELETING THE CORROSPONDING PNF HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT NOT WORKING????

What PNF are you talking about ?

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

ey peter.

what is this null modem dongle u speak of? =P
before i went away everything worked fine....the cable worked fine.

also this paper clip test. i read how to do it but for some reason it wont work for me.....u just have to get a paper clip...one end touching the ring...one touching the end? while in hyperterminal?

lol the mdmhaynes pnf...dont worry bout that =P

its just all weird how it worked before i left now i get back to use on new computer and it doesnt...so strange...

anyway other ideas?

cyaz!

[Darren King]

I think the cable Darren supplies is a straight serial cable. I think it usually comes with a null modem dongle on the 9pin end. It won't work successfully without the dongle attached.

No dongle. I supply exactly what George sells, that is the straight through serial cable. These are what everyone uses for getting a bash prompt up via serial (provided of course they are not doing PPP-over-serial). As NCG said it worked before he went away on a different PC so the cable should be fine.

[petestrash]

No dongle. I supply exactly what George sells, that is the straight through serial cable.

What George sells is not straight though, it is already wired as a null modem (TX/RX crossed), so I guess yours are also the same.

The point I was trying to make is perhaps if this cable needed a null modem dongle and it had gone missing during the PC swaps, it would explain the current problems.

Peter.

[petestrash]

also this paper clip test. i read how to do it but for some reason it wont work for me.....u just have to get a paper clip...one end touching the ring...one touching the end? while in hyperterminal?

If you can't get the characters echoed when doing the paperclip test then something is still wrong with the PC setup.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

what does this "dongle" look like? would u happen to have a picture? maybe i could find it somewhere =P
you think this might be the answer to all my problems?

thanks! =)

[Darren King]

What George sells is not straight though, it is already wired as a null modem (TX/RX crossed), so I guess yours are also the same.

Yes. That is correct. I also agree that if after doing the loopback test and not getting legible characters echoed back on the screen from what you type means a problem with the PC setup.

[Darren King]

what does this "dongle" look like? would u happen to have a picture? maybe i could find it somewhere
you think this might be the answer to all my problems?


No. Read what Peter said again:


The point I was trying to make is perhaps if this cable needed a null modem dongle and it had gone missing during the PC swaps, it would explain the current problems.

You had it working with your old PC without a dongle. You therefore don't need a dongle.

[normal_kinda_guy]

hey darren

im trying to try that loopback thing now....but for some reason i cant type into hyperterminal to do it....know what could be the problem?

[petestrash]

what does this "dongle" look like? would u happen to have a picture? maybe i could find it somewhere =P
you think this might be the answer to all my problems?

Usually they look something like this, and attaches between the PC and the Cable.

http://i.expansys.com.au/i/l/l100167.jpg

But as Darren has since said, he supplies a Null modem wired cable, so you don't need or have one of these.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

thanks guys =)

im trying to do this loopback test thing now

it will now let me type =P

ill try it out. ill see what happens


okay i think it might be the cable....im not sure if i did that loopback thing right but i tried it a couple of times and it didnt reply. and now hyperterminal wont let me type anything again =P i dont understand how it could be the cable though....no one has touched it for 8 weeks...it should be fine

[Darren King]

Unless someone has been heavy handed with the cable (ie: tugged on it or similar) then I can't see it being a cable fault. Can't help with the finer points of hyperterm. Never used it as I don't like it. I use other commercial (ie not free) terminal programs.

[normal_kinda_guy]

OMG HOW COULD I HAVE BEEN SO STUPID!?!?!?!?!

i have been looping back for ages!!!!! letters only appear when u have it connected (loopedback) and they dont come up if ur not looped!

meaning there is nothing wrong with the cable.

whats could be wrong though?

lol

[normal_kinda_guy]

:( i have now tried everything....

i re-imaged my tivo to check if that worked....failed.

i redid all the settings on my computer....failed.

i know that cable definitely works...it loops back...tivo must be sending something to my computer for stuff to popup in hyper terminal.

i dont have any more ideas.....does anyone?

thanks!

Peter

[petestrash]

From your posts, the only thing that has changed is your PC.

There must be some step that you are missing or doing wrong each time you setup the new PC. The instructions have not changed since you last setup PPP.

Since you have already re-imaged, maybe you could try changing the networking to turbonet (even though you don't have one) using the installer. This will re enable bash via serial. You could then try and connect directly to the tivo using hyperterm @9600. This would at least confirm both the cable and TiVo/PC's serial ports all still work happily.

Peter.

[Darren King]

I have to agree with Peter here. The only thing changed in the equation is the PC so the suspicion has to be cast on something not right in that area rather than it being something wrong with the TiVo or the lead.

Still, the suggestion to reimage for a Turbonet and then seeing if you get a linux bash prompt will prove the serial port in the TiVo is working, the lead is OK and the serial port on your PC is OK. You will see this bash prompt pop up on your hyperterm screen by the time the startup animation begins when booting.

Also I had a thought: Are you connecting the serial cable to a physical serial port on the PC, or do you have to use a USB to Serial converter? If it is a USB to serial converter have you gone into your PC's system settings and ensured the software serial port the USB device is assigning and baud rate settings are correct?

[normal_kinda_guy]

okay i have tried it and i think im getting to bash prompt =)
it comes up with:
bash: no job control in this shell
[Tivo [S3] ~]#

this is a good thing right? =P meaning? the settings on my computer are somehow wrong???


thanks for all the help you guys =)
ill try doing what you have said right now and i will get back to you.
@Darren:
nah im connecting it to a physical serial port like before.
cyaz!
Peter

[Darren King]

Yes that is a bash prompt.

[normal_kinda_guy]

YAY!
good thing yes? =)
meaning it must be a setting on my computer or something?
ive double checked everything...all of it is exactly as the guide says.
anything i could type into bash prompt to check or something like that?

cyaz!
Peter

[normal_kinda_guy]

I FIXED IT!!!!!!!!

OMG IT WAS SO SIMPLE!!!!!

for some reason when i changed the port settings they didnt automatically change in device manager like they did on the other computer so it was thinking 9600.
so i changed it back to 56700 and it finally connected!!!!!
wow 3 dayz of searching for the answer and it was right there in front of me =P

thanks for all your help guys!!!!

cyaz!

[Darren King]

Glad to hear it is all OK. Good stuff :)

[normal_kinda_guy]

lol the only thing now is that it wont connect to the net =P

when i try that telnet thing the tivo wont ping a site =P

ill figure it out soon.

cyaz!

[Darren King]

Have you again set it up for PPP-over-Serial?

[petestrash]

for some reason when i changed the port settings they didnt automatically change in device manager like they did on the other computer so it was thinking 9600.
so i changed it back to 56700 and it finally connected!!!!!

I did ask you if you had it set for 56700 in my first post :D

As for testing outside conectivity follow the steps @ Configuration_and_Diagnostics (http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Network/NetworkingHowto#Configuration_and_Diagnostics)

Peter.

[petestrash]

when i try that telnet thing the tivo wont ping a site =P

You do realise ping on the TiVo only works with an IP address and not a URL.

Also can you ping your PC from the TiVo?

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

lol yeah i know u can only ping ip =P

and i can ping my tivo from my computer...

dont know why it cant connect to the net though......

[petestrash]

did you try the tests @ Configuration_and_Diagnostics (http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Network/NetworkingHowto#Configuration_and_Diagnostics) ?

What were the results.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

hey peter.

think i found the problem.

im thinking that my tivo has a public ip instead of the private one it needs.

know how to change to private?

cyaz!

[petestrash]

Unlikely, what is the IP address you are using to communicate with your TiVo ?

The address will be assigned by the properties of your incomming connection. Either DHCP or a range you have manually set (if manual it need at least a range of 2 IP addresses).

Double-click the "Unauthenticated User" entry in incomming connections and change to the Details tab, to see which client IP it's using.

http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/pub/Network/SerialPPPWithXP/incom13.gif

Peter

[normal_kinda_guy]

the client ip says:
169.254.248.163

[petestrash]

And what is your server IP?

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

server ip: 169.254.68.116

[petestrash]

ok,

The 169.254.x.x addresses are local address that are usually used when a DCHP server is not available.

How does your pc connect to the internet ?

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

my computer connects to a Netgear WGR614 router which then connects to my cable modem.

[petestrash]

It would appear that DHCP Server is not enabled/working correctly on the netgear router.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

thanks peter.

ill check if its enabled now.

when it is...will that change the server andf clients ip...or will they stay the same?

[petestrash]

They will change to whatever range you select on the router.

Peter

[normal_kinda_guy]

my router says that it is configured properly for DHCP.
range is 192.168.0.1 - 192.168.0.51

could it have anything to do with my computer not be set for DHCP?

[petestrash]

Check the TCP/IP settings in local area connection properties.

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

the ip and dns are both configured to obtain automatically.

when i click advanced - ip settings. says that DHCP is enabled.

any setting you think i should input myself?

[petestrash]

I don't know why the PC is not taking an IP from the range you specified in the DHCP server on your router.

But you can get around it by setting everything manually.

Try setting the PC to 192.168.0.20

and give incomming conections the range of 192.168.0.21 to 192.168.0.22

Peter.

[normal_kinda_guy]

IT FINALLY WORKING!!!!!

THANKS SO MUCH YOU GUYS!!!!

lol all it was were some settings...so simple =P

thanks again =D

cyaz!
Peter

[petestrash]

Finally !

Now don't go and buy a new computer for a couple of years. :rolleyes:

Peter

[Darren King]

Woohoo! :)