Trying to fix up a Thomson for a friend. Postcode question

[BenMorgan]

Hi I'm hoping to aid a friend who lives in Kapiti with making his UK Thomson useable here. He lives up in Kapiti and at the moment only wants to plug in his antenna to the Tivo. Anything more is a bridge we'll cross when we come to it.

From reading the Postcodes thread it would appear maybe that this is the postcode I want:
02124 WL Wellington FTA

but I have a couple of questions, is Kapiti covered by Wellington's postcode? And also is there somewhere or some way I can find out the frequencies in Kapiti?

Have never tried this with a Thomson before, are there any other pitfalls I should be aware of?

[Skolink]

Wellington is in the other side of a large hill, so I doubt you would receive much from there. You will probably need a new headend created, in which case it is your job to find out what stations on what channels (frequencies) are received in Kapiti.
There is some info here http://www.lincrad.co.nz/transmittersites.html but it won't necessarily be correct.
If your friend has a modern TV it will hopefully tell you the frequencies
Frequency/channel table http://www.lincrad.co.nz/pdf/nztelevisionchannels.pdf

Once you have the relevant info send a message to DJC who when he has time will add the headend to the server for you.
Cheers,
John

[BenMorgan]

thanks! I'll give it a go but I'm thinking it might be easier to convince him Freeview is the way to go ;)

EDIT: Actually on reflection this doesn't sound too bad at all. I'll hopefully have some frequencies for Kapiti in a couple of days for DJC...

thanks skolink.

[BenMorgan]

Interesting problem cropped up when trying to re-image the 40GB Thomson drive. The boot disk seemingly works fine but it doesn't actually seem to write to the hard drive during the "Restore the Image" phase. I've had no problems doing this for a Philips and for a Sony one but the Thomson image doesn't seem to want to write. It says it has restored the image but installing the drive back in the TiVo it appears to still have the old UK image on it still. I've tested this by trying to re-image my old Sony TiVo Hard Drive with the Thomson image. When I install that disk the TiVo boots up but is running the Sony software.

Anyone else ever had this problem or can point me to a solution? I downloaded this Thomson image:

nzTiVo-Thomson-Installer-Dec06RC1.iso

I'm going to try formatting the disk first when I get home tonight but if anyone has some pointers they would be much appreciated. This is my first Thomson install.

[Islander]

The problem is that the drive you have is too small for the new image ref: http://forums.oztivo.net/showthread.php?t=1050 post #4

[BenMorgan]

Hmmm be interesting to see if that's the problem. I have a spare 80 and 120GB drive kicking around at home though. I'll give it a shot on one of them and see if I still get the problem. Thanks... I did a lot of searches for various things on the forum but didn't come across that thread. I'll let you know if that solves it!

[BenMorgan]

It will indeed image on an 80GB drive. Thanks for that. Have a TurboNet card in there at present. Got an interesting follow up problem though. Guided Setup starts fine. I enter these options:

RF Output = 28
Programme Source = Aerial + Digital Satellite
Postcode = am trying 02112 for the time being
Dial Prefix = ",#401"
I left the other options at defaults

The Setup Call fails with the error "Failed. Number Unavailable"

The interesting thing is I can ping and telnet to my TiVo but it doesn't appear to be able to see the outside world. pinging 210.48.107.133 under telnet gives me:

PING 210.48.107.133 (210.48.107.133): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable

--- 210.48.107.133 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

I set my IP for the Tivo as 192.168.0.200
subnet mask is 255.255.255.0 and Gateway as 192.168.0.1 which are correct for my router.

I tried this with the default emuProxy2 settings first but have also edited the tclient.conf and rc.sysinit.author files to hit the emulator directly. Neither seems to work but I guess this isn't surprising as something seems to be stopping the TiVo from seeing the ouside WAN... this is the current state of my files:
tclient.conf:
############# New Zealand Setup #####################
#This uses emuProxy2 to avoid problems with transparent proxy for NZ
#NZ Users Server emulator New Installs using emuProxy
#127::127.0.0.1:8000:::

# NZ users on Orac new installs, NON emuProxy
127::210.48.107.133:8000:::

# NZ legacy users on Orac port 80, NON emuProxy
#127::210.48.107.133:80:::

rc.sysinit.author:
#emuProxy2 -s 210.48.107.133 -p 8000 &

any clues anybody? Sorryfor being so feckless!

[catdog]

Have you run the commands listed here:
http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Network/NetworkingHowto#Configuration_and_Diagnostics

Specifically, does route show your gateway correctly? Can you ping a computer/router on your LAN from tivo?

[BenMorgan]

Getting quite confusing results. ifconfig everything appears well. Route however returns nothing at all. pinging my router or my laptop is fine but pinging google gives network unreachable

ifconfig output:
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:127.255.255.255 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP BROADCAST LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:3584 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0B:AD:10:10:10
inet addr:192.168.0.200 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:519 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:326 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0
Interrupt:29

route output:
not a sausage

ping local:
PING 192.168.0.127 (192.168.0.127): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 192.168.0.127: icmp_seq=0 ttl=128 time=1.551 ms
64 bytes from 192.168.0.127: icmp_seq=1 ttl=128 time=1.375 ms

--- 192.168.0.127 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 2 packets received, 0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 1.375/1.463/1.551 ms

ping google:
PING 204.176.49.1 (204.176.49.1): 56 data bytes
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable
ping: sendto: Network is unreachable

--- 204.176.49.1 ping statistics ---
2 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100% packet loss

wget to minnie fails with network unreachable as well.

Checking the DIal Prefix results is a weird one:
dbget /State/PhoneConfig DialPrefix
can't open object (errDbNotFound)

while executing
"db $db open $objspec"
(procedure "OpenObject" line 3)
invoked from within
"OpenObject $db $obj"
("uplevel" body line 2)
invoked from within
"uplevel $body"
invoked from within
"transaction {uplevel $body}"
(procedure "RetryTransaction" line 5)
invoked from within
"RetryTransaction {
set x [OpenObject $db $obj]
puts [dbobj $x get $attr]
}"
(file "/devbin/dbget" line 21)

However my nic_config_tivo appears to be set up fine:
Current/New Configuration:
timing setting = optimal
mac address = 00:0B:AD:10:10:10
ip address = 192.168.0.200
ip subnet mask = 255.255.255.0
ip gateway = 192.168.0.1
debug level = off
daily call = network

there's no other TiVo's running onmy network...

does the lack the database where the DialPrefix is stored mean the image is incomplete perhaps? Maybe 80GB isn't a big enough drive. The imaging did give me a line about being unable to further restore to A or something like that before it flicked onto telling me the install had been successful...

[BenMorgan]

Have just run the Thomson image on a 120GB drive instead. There's now no errors upon install but I still get the same results as above... no route, can't find the /State/PhoneConfig db etc.

I'm now lost... obviously it can't be a TurboNet fault because it can see my internal network. I don't think it's an issue with a firewall or ports being blocked because I've just had Sony running fine overnight (though unplugged now, never have 2 connected at once). Unless there's something different about the way the Thomson image does business with the internet?

[Skolink]

Interesting problem cropped up when trying to re-image the 40GB Thomson drive. The boot disk seemingly works fine but it doesn't actually seem to write to the hard drive during the "Restore the Image" phase. I've had no problems doing this for a Philips and for a Sony one but the Thomson image doesn't seem to want to write. It says it has restored the image but installing the drive back in the TiVo it appears to still have the old UK image on it still

http://minnie.tuhs.org/twiki/bin/view/Install/PrepareTiVoDisk
Note particularly "If the restore seems to happen instantly, then the restore probably didn't happen, even if it says 'restore successful'. If you have an original OzTiVo drive, you may first need to unlock it with QUNLOCK. See HERE for more information."

[BenMorgan]

hi Skolink that was my initial problem but I'm past that one now. The image is definitely burnt fully (no errors reported and a 2-3 minute install time) on a 120GB drive. THe problem now seems to be in the Thomson's networking. It'll see my internal network but can't seem to see the outside world. All the settings seem to be correct however but something's definitely not right as for example, "route" just returns straight back to the prompt, doesn't report anything back at all. Also trying to access the database to check the Dial Prefix fails...

[catdog]

Your problem is definately with route - Tivo doesn't know the address of the gateway to use to access the web.

Try running the command:
/sbin/route add default gw 192.168.0.1

and see if that helps. (change the IP address in the command to match your routers address if needed)

[BenMorgan]

Hmmm that doesn't seem to do anything either :(

I still get nothing back from route but a new command prompt, even after rebooting

[Wibble]

I still get nothing back from route but a new command prompt, even after rebooting

"/sbin/route add default gw 192.168.0.1" is not stored anywhere, so it won't survive a reboot.

Can you try all of the following:
netstat -rn
route add default gw 192.168.0.1
netstat -rn
traceroute -n 210.48.107.133

And show us the output.

(PS: the -rn is an R followed by an N :) )

[BenMorgan]

ok now this is just weird..firstly netstat gives me command not found! However for a laugh I tried the traceroute line you gave me and now it just works.

I left the thing on while I went out for a few hours, I came back and now it seems to work. This was immediately following a reboot as well so it presumably wasn't due to the route add default gw 192.168.0.1 line either...

I'm going through Guided Setup at the moment, will let you know how it goes but I still don't get what you'd expect on some of the diagnostic tests so I'm still expecting trouble but... of it's own volition it seems to have gotten past it's previous hurdle.

ugh... might be the last Thomson install I try lol

what doesn't bode well is that there doesn't seem to be anything specific I've done to make it start working which will no doubt be a problem when I come to re-image...

[catdog]

ok now this is just weird..firstly netstat gives me command not found!

Ok. I just checked my Thomson - you are correct that netstat is not included in the image. To make matters worse, route is just a symbolic link to route.fake, which does nothing! I guess the gateway is configured in a different manner than the Philips image... I never had a problem on the Thomson tivo, so never noticed!

Getting the Thomson working is worth the effort - internal tuner, menus that fill the entire screen, no locking up of the remote... ;)

[BenMorgan]

Ok. I just checked my Thomson - you are correct that netstat is not included in the image. To make matters worse, route is just a symbolic link to route.fake, which does nothing! I guess the gateway is configured in a different manner than the Philips image... I never had a problem on the Thomson tivo, so never noticed!

Getting the Thomson working is worth the effort - internal tuner, menus that fill the entire screen, no locking up of the remote... ;)

ha well it's sort of working. Time seems to be UK time at the moment... the set time seemed to hang on the setup call so I killed the process naughty I know... might force another call... Will have to try reimaging another disk tomorrow to see if it still works if I just leave it (network propagation?? Didn't have that on the Philips or Sony I did...).

[catdog]

Well, it appears that the Thomson UK software is setting the gateway with the "route.tivo" executable instead of "route"


ha well it's sort of working. Time seems to be UK time at the moment... the set time seemed to hang on the setup call so I killed the process naughty I know...

Yeah ntpdate is kinda broken... it will timeout after 15 minutes and then continue the call. I would suggest replacing it:
http://forums.oztivo.net/showthread.php?p=11481#post11481
You'll probably also need to replace the Auckland timezone file for the changed daylight savings dates.

Also try:
dbget /Setup TimeZone
dbget /Setup DaylightSavingsPolicy

Both should return "0". If they don't exist, you can create them:
dbsetx /Setup TimeZone 0
dbsetx /Setup DaylightSavingsPolicy 0


I don't know how much of this has been done in the image you are using (I am running an older UK image).

[BenMorgan]

was swearing at TiVo a bit last night, I put in the ntpdate file but it wasn't working... I'd renamed the oldone as ntpdate.backup just in case but when I copied over the new file I must've typed:

cp ntpdate /sbin/nptdate instead of /sbin/ntpdate

and I wondered why I couldn't get it to pick up the time haha Worked first time (and with the new Auckland DST settings too) when I noticed my mistake.

Seems to all be running fine but seeing as this one's to go back to it's rightful owner I have to find out what it was I did to make it work!