OzTivo Image for UK Thomson PVR10UK Tivo?

[kasman21]

Hello Tivo Experts,

New to the fourm and noticed a few users using the Thompson Scenium Tivo in NZ with their Thompson NZTivo RC1 image.

My question is, is there a Australian OzTivo install image for the Thompson Scenium Tivo or can I just use the Phillips or Sony image?

I currently have one with me on th UK and I was wondering if I should bring my UK Tivo back or just buy a new OzTivo compatible hardware when back in Oz.

Thanks in advance,
Kass

[MattCallow]

For a UK Tivo, you can use either the Phillips/Sony US image or the UK image.
I have a UK Tivo, and use the UK image (after previously using the Sony image on the same Tivo).

The Phillips or Sony images are based on the US 3.x software. These are easier to install (because the oztivo installer is more mature). The image can also be updated via a simple script on the tivo. But they do suffer from the dreaded 'event bug'
The UK image is based on the last UK software version (2.55), so doesn't suffer from the event bug and also all of the menus work (on the US version, some of the menus are not available I think). But the UK image is more difficult to install. I wrote a Wiki page explaining what I did - see http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Howto/UseUkImage

Matt

[kasman21]

Hi Matt,

Thanks for the prompt reply and informative update.

So just to get things straight I can go for the US image and experience the less menus and the "event bug" (I assume from previous posts its related to the Tivo intermittently hanging) or go the UK image which has all the menus and no bugs.

I'm not much of a Linux guy but would prefer to go down your path as well knowing that the UK image works well in NSW. Either way it’s good to hear people do have the Thomson running okay and that I can bring my UK Tivo back to AUS as its definitely a great product.

Cheers,
Kass

[MattCallow]

Kass,

Your summary is correct. In reallity, I don't think the missing menus are a big problem in the US image (they are mainly related to setup I think). The biggest benefit (IMHO) of the UK image is the lack of event bug (i.e. TiVo hanging).
My Tivo has never 'hung' since changing to the UK image (several months ago). With the US image, I was rebooting every week or so (even with various 'fixes' in place).

Does anyone know if there is an OzTivo installer ISO image for the UK software? All I managed to find was an MFS backup, which I installed using the latest installer ISO.

[GreatDrok]

I tried the Philips US based image on my UK TiVo and didn't like it. The install was easy but the menus don't fill the screen since they are set up for NTSC and a TiVo running in PAL mode has more scan lines. I installed the NZ Thomson image three months back now and it has been working fine ever since. Don't know how I coped without my TiVo. NZ TV is soooooo awful that it is only livable if you can skip past the huge number of ads.

Having hacked my TiVo when I was in the UK to upgrade the drive, install ethernet, TiVoweb and so on manually, the OZTiVo install was so much better since all the good stuff came pre-installed. I forget where I got the ISO, on the NZ TiVo site somewhere (I live in NZ) and it works well although the PC that does the initial imaging of the drive needs to be pretty old. I couldn't use my AMD64 box and had to source an old (scrapped actually) PIII box.

[kasman21]

I tried the Philips US based image on my UK TiVo and didn't like it. The install was easy but the menus don't fill the screen since they are set up for NTSC and a TiVo running in PAL mode has more scan lines. I installed the NZ Thomson image three months back now and it has been working fine ever since. Don't know how I coped without my TiVo. NZ TV is soooooo awful that it is only livable if you can skip past the huge number of ads.

Having hacked my TiVo when I was in the UK to upgrade the drive, install ethernet, TiVoweb and so on manually, the OZTiVo install was so much better since all the good stuff came pre-installed. I forget where I got the ISO, on the NZ TiVo site somewhere (I live in NZ) and it works well although the PC that does the initial imaging of the drive needs to be pretty old. I couldn't use my AMD64 box and had to source an old (scrapped actually) PIII box.

Hi GreatDrok,

Thanks for the info...

Can you point me in the right direction for obtaining the OZTiVo NZ Thomson image?

Also, I will be based in Sydney NSW and so will the OZTiVo NZ Thomson image be okay to use in AUS, or will I need to hack it further to get it to work in my region?

I too have hacked my Tivo in the UK (turbonet, tivoweb, endpad, tserver), and hope to use it to record E.P.L football when I return ;)

Cheers,

Kass

[petestrash]

Does anyone know if there is an OzTivo installer ISO image for the UK software? All I managed to find was an MFS backup, which I installed using the latest installer ISO.

There is none, for a couple of reasons. First none of us who maintain the US image own a UK TiVo for testing, Second it was considered enough work just maintaining the US image.

Officially as far as OzTiVo is concerned the UK image is depreciated.

The MFS backup is available for those wishing to play with it, but all addons are now a few years old and should be manually updated.

Peter.

[petestrash]

Can you point me in the right direction for obtaining the OZTiVo NZ Thomson image?

There is no OZTiVo NZ Thomson image. Only the old MFS backup mentioned earlier.


Also, I will be based in Sydney NSW and so will the OZTiVo NZ Thomson image be okay to use in AUS, or will I need to hack it further to get it to work in my region?

You could try using the NZ thomson Image, but your likelyhood for success depends on how you plan to use it and your skill level.

Without having tried it myself, I believe it will work with a small amount of changes (server IP etc) if you are using an external STB as your source.

I believe it may not easily work if you plan to use the aerial input as the frequencies have been set for NZ. This can be worked around, but is more difficult.

It may just be easier to follow Matts step by step UseUkImage (http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Howto/UseUkImage) writeup with the MFS backup of the Australian image.

Peter.

[tblanks]

I've just installed the MFS image and it's stuck on the first call - error loading series data - I've changed the script to not load from minnie, it gets the data, just fails when loading it.

I've had a look around and seem to understand the problem in that I need to get the emulator to send me the UK Headends instead of the US ones, the original post said to email Warren regarding this - which I did last night.

In my email to Warren I included my unique TivoID number but is there anything else I should send him? Or does someone else handle this now? (Post was from over a year ago)

Alternatively is there a manual way (via postcode for example) to request the UK Headends?

Thanks and Regards,

Tims

[petestrash]

Depending on how far your TiVo got when connecting he should have your area and lineup details.

We are not really actively supporting the old UK image, the philips one works fine on the Thomson TiVo.

Just wait for Warrens reply and he will set it up for you.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

Just for the benefit of others reading this thread, there is one other major benefit of using the UK version of the OzTiVo image: support for RBG.

I have 3 UK TiVos running RGB input/output over Scart and one US TiVo running s-video. I have to say that the RGB quality is noticably better (to me) and identical to component. (In fact two of my TiVos have RGB to Component converters on them, which are cheap these day, running into modern HD sets). To me the picture quality is fantastic for Standard Definition material and has extended their usage life to the point that I haven't considered the HD TiVo just yet (and I probably won't bother without the 30 second skip backdoor being on the HD TiVo!).

Anyway, personal rant aside, I think the major reason why one would buy the UK TiVo, and go for the extra effort to set it up with the UK image, is the noticably better picture quality on RGB if you appreciate these things (and have a TV/Monitor big enough to show the difference over s-video)!

And if you are not too picky with picture quality like me, then as Pete rightly says, the US image does work fine and is easier to set up for beginners.

[petestrash]

From memory a UK TiVo running US software will still output RGB Via the scart connector.

None of us who maintain the images have a UK TiVo, which makes it difficult to support that image. This is the only reason it has not been updated for many years.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

Hmmm ... I can't remember whether it was input, output or both, but I could not get RGB to work with the US image last time I tried (certainly composite worked on both scarts though). But if I get a chance I will give it another go.

[petestrash]

There is no mention of RGB Input or Output being an issue in our image todo list.

Please PM me when you check it so we can take a look at what is wrong.

Peter.