Picture/System Freezing

[GeoffWilson]

Current config: OzTivo 1.5, Philips Series1

Come home to find Tivo frozen. The picture is static & there is no sound. Web interface won't connect. Can't even telent into the Tivo. Hard reboot and all is well. It is almost a daily occurance at the moment.

This problem used to happen very very occasionaly, and I just lived with it. It seems to have become more frequet sisnce I mooved to the new EPG/emmulator location. This may be just a coincidence.

Any ideas.

Geoff.

[petestrash]

Usually early signs of hard drive failure if it is getting more frequent.

Try another drive and see if the problem goes away.

Peter.

[Darren King]

What Peter says is correct but I will also add that if you are using a Turbonet (or equivalent) please ensure you have the line "timing=16" in the oztivo.conf file located in the /etc directory. If it only says "timing=3" then change it to 16, save and reboot.

[Skolink]

My friends and I had the same problem with nzTiVo image 1.5. Disabling tivoweb(plus) in rc.sysinit.author fixed the problem. Reimaging with OztiVo 1.6 also fixes the problem.

[petestrash]

I think the timing issue and disabling TWP are related.

If they adjust the timing, they should be able to use TWP.

Also worth upgrading to the latest v1.3.1 or v2.1 TWP release.

Peter.

[GeoffWilson]

What Peter says is correct but I will also add that if you are using a Turbonet (or equivalent) please ensure you have the line "timing=16" in the oztivo.conf file located in the /etc directory. If it only says "timing=3" then change it to 16, save and reboot.

I couldn't see any reference to "timing" in my oztivo.conf file. Please refer to uploaded version.

Geoff

[GeoffWilson]

My friends and I had the same problem with nzTiVo image 1.5. Disabling tivoweb(plus) in rc.sysinit.author fixed the problem. Reimaging with OztiVo 1.6 also fixes the problem.

Can I upgrade from 1.5 to 1.6 readily without losing my programs currently stored in "showing now"

Geoff.

[petestrash]

Can you post your etc/rc.d/rc.net I think timing was set there in 1.5.

How to Upgrade OzTiVo Image (http://www.oztivo.net/twiki/bin/view/Howto/UpgradeOzTiVoImage#Upgrading_a_1_3_1_4_or_1_5_Imag e) shows how to do the upgrade. Hundreds have used it with only a couple having major issues. But as with all the advice offered if it breaks you get to own all the pieces :-)

But certainly worth doing as future updates will be painless.

Peter

[GeoffWilson]

Can you post your etc/rc.d/rc.net I think timing was set there in 1.5.


How to Upgrade OzTiVo Image (http://www.oztivo.net/twiki/bin/view/Howto/UpgradeOzTiVoImage#Upgrading_a_1_3_1_4_or_1_5_Imag e) shows how to do the upgrade. Hundreds have used it with only a couple having major issues. But as with all the advice offered if it breaks you get to own all the pieces :-)

But certainly worth doing as future updates will be painless.


Peter

Peter,

1) In the short term please see attached rc.net file

2) In the long term I will apply the upgrade and hopefully keep everthing in one piece.

Thanks,

Geoff.

[petestrash]

Yep the timing is set there as a fallback. Just change timing=3 to timing=16.

Peter.

[GeoffWilson]

Peter,
Why did I not see timing=3 in this file before? Don't answer that.
Anyhow value is now adjusted. Let's see if this improves the freezing problem.

Once I've mastered the process of copying the material I have in Now Viewing to my Mac and then to DVD I will upgrade to Ver 1.6.

Thanks for your response.

Geoff.

[petestrash]

Cool, like I said there have only been a couple of people who had Issues upgrading (and I don't think any started at v1.5), but it's better to be safe then sorry.

Peter.

[ibart]

I seem to have the same freezing issue. My problem is that nic_config_tivo will not change Turbonet speed so I can't check if this is the problem? When I select the "failsafe" option it appears to flash a message saying "file or directory not found" (or something similar twice, ie 2 lines ). Goes too fast to read properly. When I check the file sure enough it has not changed (still at "3")

Incidentally changing ip address etc works fine.

Sorry to be such a noob but can I edit file manually? If so, what would be the step by step instruction (I can telnet and ftp OK).

Cheers

[petestrash]

You have an old faulty version of nic_config_tivo.

Where are you locacted? (Please update your profile)

If in Australia, are you running v1.6.x?

Yes you can also manually change the details, but how depends on the OzTiVo version you are running.

Peter

[ibart]

Thanks for replying. I'm in Melbourne (hopefully my profile says that now). Running 1.6.2 on a series 1 phillips.

Really graateful for help with this. What's my best approach do you think? Replace the nic_config_tivo?

Cheers

[petestrash]

Have you moved to the new server yet?

And if yes, how did you do it?

Peter.

[ibart]

Gosh. Yes I am on the new server but I can't remember exactly how - there were instructions from here I recall - an update_tivo via telnet I think?

[ibart]

Definately update_oztivo -y - no sign anything went wrong

[petestrash]

You may have been an early convert, try it again as the file has since been fixed.

Peter.

[GeoffWilson]

Well it's now a week since I updated the timing value to 16 in rc.net.
If anything the freezing has got worse. Guess I'll just have to byte the bullet and upgradefrom 1.5.x to 1.6.x
Still haven't archived off my "Now Viewing" stuff. Spend to much time watching TV/Tivo rather than administering it!

Geoff.

[petestrash]

Do you use IR extenders or have CFL's in the same room.

Peter.

[Darren King]

Guess I'll just have to byte(sic) the bullet and upgradefrom 1.5.x to 1.6.x

If you are worried about losing valuable programs and settings then why not try a test hard disk first as Peter has suggested? That way you can compare one to the other and then only reimage if you then find out it is software related. Anything from 5GB and up will do as a test. There *are* situations a failing part on the motherboard can cause lockups (usually the MPEG encoder chip) that do get worse over time. A test hard disk will reveal whether there is a software or hardware problem without the gripes of losing valuable recordings.

[ibart]

The plot thickens for me. After my earlier posts about my Series 1 Tivo freezing, and having reported that I could not change the nic speed (via nic_config_tivo) I decided to bite the bullet and start again.

New 320 gig hard drive. New downloaded Oztivo image. Fitted it up, GS ran perfect, program guides appeared real quick. Rebooted out of maintenance mode.

Next morning the Tivo had ..... frozen. Rebooted, went to work, came home. Tivo had .... frozen.

Decided to change nic speed (set at 16 when I imaged), and ... I cannot change it!!! Stuck on 16.

Could this be the Turbonet failing? If so, can I get another one in OZ?

Cheers

[petestrash]

I would suggest you unplug the network cable (you should have a weeks data now), and see if you still get frequent freezes.

If you don't then maybe try a different cable/port/joiner.

If you do then remove the network card and try again.

If you still do, then as Darren has said there are mainboard faults that could be causing the problems.

Peter.

[ibart]

Many thanks for your advice. After testing this last week or so, it appears that Tivo does not like my wired network? I had it plugged into a wireless bridge then moved it to a wired switch which worked for a couple of months but no longer.

I have tried 2 different switches (1 a gigabit, the other a 10/100) with the same consequence - the Tivo freezes (does not seem to be necessarily related making a call by the way - its more random). I have also tried 2 different Turbonet cards (I forgot I had a spare) - same thing.

I guess I should be happy all is working again via wireless bridge.

Cheers

[Darren King]

Glad to hear you narrowed it down and have a sort of "fix".

Did you ever check that the actual oztivo.conf file in the /etc directory has the line "timing=16" regardless of what you saw during setting up the hard disk via the installer menu? Usually a network freezing is because the timing setting still has a value of 3. Just makes me curious as I've never seen this behaviour once the value is set to 16.

[ibart]

Thanks for replying Darren - this has certainly got me beat. nic config is as follws, seems OK?

nic=TurboNet
ip=DHCP
mac=00:0B:AD:17:31:27
timing=16
hostname=oztivo
emulator=www.oztivo.net
emulatorport=80
netmask=
gateway=
ssid=
wep=
wepkey=

My network is kind of complicated - 1 have 9 pcs on the network plus, wii, xbox 360, 2 print servers, hd dvd player, VOIP adapter - all via 6 switches, WAP and router. Just had to change router which first stopped DNS services then DHCP stopped. New router fixed a load of strange things that were happening, but not the tivo. Ah well, as you say at least its working.

BTW have you tried the new Tivo yet?

Cheers

[Darren King]

That's strange given the timing is set to 16.... but then again that's not what most would call a normal home network either :) Better off just leaving it while it is working!

Yes I've had a "touch and feel" with the TiVoHD. Impressive unit but at present the Series 1 coupled with a FTA digital STB does me fine as I don't watch a lot of TV, and tend these days to download a lot of the shows I want to watch that are either delayed or not shown locally.

[ibart]

Freezing agin - with my wireless bridge this time therefore I'm back to where I started. It was OK for about a week or so.

Any suggestions gratefully received. One question I still have however, is that I still cannot change nic setup via nic config program, reports file not found. Is there any danger that my oztivo.conf file reports a state but the turbonet is not using the data, ie is actually in a different state (ie speed is still at 3)?

Cheers

[petestrash]

You can pickup a copy of nic_config_tivo here (http://www.oztivo.net/oztivofiles/updates/nic_config_tivo).

But as far as oztivo.conf goes it is definitely read from there. All nic_config_tivo does (in this instance) is change oztivo.conf manually.

You should now have data through to Friday, so maybe test what is causing the freeze by removing the TurboNet card all together for a few days.

Peter.

[ibart]

Thanks so much --- you guys have the patience of saints with the question askers.

At least I hope you do .... err ... what exactly do I do to the text file file you attached? My linux knowledge is disgraceful. Sorry and thanking you in anticipation.

Cheers

PS I have telnet and FTP'ing happening - just clueless as to basic linux stuff.

[petestrash]

For now, how about just removing the card for the next 2 days, or force a call Friday night and then remove the card for a few days.

Peter.

[ibart]

I'm baaack .....

Ok - thought it time to be systematic. So:

1. Left ethernet cable connected to hub, but switched off hub - tivo froze
2. Unplugged ethernet - tivo froze

At this point tivo also GSOD and got into a reboot cycle.

Then ... had a bright idea. Realised my 2 HDDs I was using are both Seagates (a 250 and a 320). So I swapped in old 120 gig WD - just to see. Tivo froze.

3. Finally did as you suggested (I got there in the end) unplugged Turbonet from motherboard and ..... all is (almost) fine - no freezing, no random reboots. First time without random reboots in a year or two.

I say almost fine because tivo does almost appear to freeze at times, but recovers and carries on. Not too often, just every now and again.

So - what next? Incidentally I still cannot adjust nic settings (via telnet and nic_config_tivo) when it is on the tivo - an error message flashes past and nothing changes.

Really keen to get any suggestions.

Cheers

[petestrash]

To make sure the timing values are being written, what are the contents of your /etc/rc.d/rc.net file?

Peter.

[ibart]

Hi - thanks for the reply. Just plugged turbonet back onto the motherboard.

Contents of etc/rc.d/rc.net as follows:


#!/bin/sh
# Install network kernel modules, set the IP address and gateway,
# or launch the DHCP client.
# $Revision: 1.6 $
#
###############################
# Send error mail including contents of /etc/oztivo.conf
neterr()
{
t="/tmp/err.$$"
syslog -t rc.net "ERROR: $1"
echo "The following error occurred as part of the network configuration:" >$t
echo >> $t
echo $1 >> $t
echo >> $t
echo "The network config file oztivo.conf has this:" >> $t
echo >> $t
cat /etc/oztivo.conf >> $t
sendtivomesg.tcl TiVo 'Network Config Error' < $t
rm -f $t
}

# Ensure that we have a network config file
if [ ! -f /etc/oztivo.conf ]; then
echo "Error: oztivo.conf is missing!" | \
sendtivomesg.tcl TiVo 'oztivo.conf Missing'
fi

# Load the appropriate module
case $nic in
TurboNet)
echo "Starting TurboNet"
# Fill in a timing value if there isn't one
if [ -z "$timing" ]; then timing=3; fi
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/turbonet.o macaddr=$mac timing=$timing || \
neterr "turbonet.o module failed using mac=$mac"
export DYNAMIC_NET_DEV=eth0
;;
Cachecard)
echo "Starting Cachecard"
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/turbonet2.o macaddr=$mac debuglevel=0 || \
neterr "turbonet2.o module failed using mac=$mac"
export DYNAMIC_NET_DEV=eth0
;;
AirNet)
echo "Starting AirNet"
if [ "$wep" = "None" ]; then
# No $wep, don't need to supply key
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/airnet.o ssid=$ssid timing=6 || \
neterr "airnet.o with no key module failed using ssid=$ssid"
else
# need to supply a key to the kernel module
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/airnet.o ssid=$ssid key=$wepkey timing=6||\
neterr "airnet.o with key module failed using ssid=$ssid key=$wepkey"
fi
export DYNAMIC_NET_DEV=eth0
;;
TiVoNet)
echo "Starting TiVoNet"
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/8390tridge.o || neterr "8390tridge.o failed"
/sbin/insmod -f /lib/modules/tivone.o || neterr "tivone.o failed"
export DYNAMIC_NET_DEV=eth0
;;
PPPonDSS)
echo "Starting PPP over serial"
/etc/rc.d/rc.ppp &
export DYNAMIC_NET_DEV=ppp0
ip=None
;;
Modem) # Nothing to do for this one
ip=None
;;
*) neterr "Unknown network type $nic"
;;
esac

# Run ifconfig if the IP address is static, or use DHCP to get an IP address,
# or do nothing if we are using PPPonDSS or the internal Modem
case $ip in
DHCP)
mkdir -p /var/state/dhcp || neterr "Cannot mkdir /var/state/dhcp"
/sbin/dhclient -q eth0 2>/dev/null &
;;
None)
;;
*)
# Set up the IP address and default router
/sbin/ifconfig eth0 $ip netmask $netmask up || \
neterr "ifconfig failed using $ip netmask $netmask"
/sbin/route add default gw $gateway || \
neterr "route failed using default gw $gateway"
;;
esac

[petestrash]

That is the standard file for r1.6.x

It does default the timing to 3 if no other value is set, this should not be an issue.

But if you like you can change the entry to 16.

Change:
if [ -z "$timing" ]; then timing=3; fi
To:
if [ -z "$timing" ]; then timing=16; fi

Then reboot.

Peter.

[ibart]

Dear Peter

Again I appreciate your help.

I executed your instructions perfectly - and my Tivo worked flawlessly ... right up until the point at which it hung.

I think I'm depressed.

Cheers

[petestrash]

Not sure what you mean...

Are you talking about the same freezes that had or something different?

If different, How did you edit the files?

Did you use word or something that may cause issues?

I actually didn't expect it to make any difference.

Peter.

[ibart]

Sorry I was a bit cryptic - what I meant was that I effected the change to the file as suggested, rebooted and it made no differance. Within an hour the tivo picture froze as it had been doing previously.

One minor discovery - i have an ethernet connector between the patch cable that attaches to the turbonet on the tivo and the patch cable that I plug into my network switch.

Previously I had been disconnecting upstream of the joiner, ie leaving the joiner attached to the ethernet cable that is attached to the turbonet.

If i disconnect EVERYTHING including joiner from turbonet no freezes . IE if ANYTHING is connected to the turbonet then the freezing occurs.

I'm stumped.

Cheers

[petestrash]

By anything, do you mean just a loose cable (without the joiner) ?

If that's the case, then it's looking like it may be either cable or card.

Peter.

[TyKahu]

If i disconnect EVERYTHING including joiner from turbonet no freezes . IE if ANYTHING is connected to the turbonet then the freezing occurs.


At any stage, have you tried reseating the TurboNet card? I had a similar problem (see http://forums.oztivo.net/showthread.php?t=1887) which was resolved when I swapped TurboNet cards (luckily I have 2 TiVos). Both TiVos have been working flawlessly ever since, which implies that somehow the TurboNet wasn't sitting quite right.

[ibart]

Thanks Guys

I'll respond to both suggestions.

I have 2 turbonet cards and same thing happens with both. I've changed cables also. I've also had the tivo plugged into both a wired switch and a wireless bridge. For a while I thought I had it cracked with the wireless bridge but after a couple of days tivo started freezing again.

I have wondered whether my turbonets are "genuine" (thinking it could be a driver issue) although I think I got one from George. The other I got off ebay.

This error is completely replicable which means there is a fix somewhere.

This fault has emerged since I upgraded from 1.3 to 1.6 (I would like to downgrade to try but I can't remember how to set up the networking or get onto the new server with the old image!)

Cheers

[Darren King]

I have wondered whether my turbonets are "genuine" (thinking it could be a driver issue)

All variants of Turbonet's, be they originals or copies under different names, use the same AX88796 chip.

[petestrash]

The drivers used in 1.3 and 1.6 are the same, they have not been updated since 2004, plus hundred of TuboNets running 1.6 don't have these issues.

As all the TurboNet style cards use the same chip, they also use the same driver (AirNet, CacheCard, & TiVoNet are different).

Unlikely to have 2 faulty cards, it may be an issue with the joiner. Try the card alone in the TiVo without any cable.

Peter.