guide software

[hofmann]

I recently replaced my xp MCE with a Tivo hd. The MCE was too unstable and it became annoying. The Tivo has been great in this regard. The way the guide works though seems painfull compared to MCE. I have the guide in grid format but the tivo doesn't show me what's about to record, only what is actually recording. I found this a far easier way to prioritise my programs. I simply flick through the guide and if I see something I want to change, I click on the program I want to record and the mce asks me which of the two other programs I want to cancel. I can't actually remember if the mce then prioritised the new show or I had to go deeper but it all worked from the guide and thats the way I would like the tivo to work. Before I go into a rant about the season pass manager and to do list, is there some way to make it work like I'm describing? I should mention that I haven't actually got around to permanantly connecting the ethernet, I just plug it in once a week, so I suppose it's possible I've missed some automatic updates or something.

Also, my one year old son seems to be able to work magic with remotes and he is being blamed for changing the now playing list so the programs are all listed individually instead of being grouped. I'm sure its simple but I haven't figured out how to change it back. If anyone can point me in the right direction and take a toddler off death row, it would be appreciated.

[petestrash]

Before I go into a rant about the season pass manager and to do list, is there some way to make it work like I'm describing

No, and I agree it is a pain. You should be able to choose which conflict it will overwrite.


I should mention that I haven't actually got around to permanantly connecting the ethernet, I just plug it in once a week, so I suppose it's possible I've missed some automatic updates or something.

Unlikely, but if you ever want to check, just force 2 connections one after the other from the network settings screen. If a an update is available it will be downloaded in the 2nd call.


Also, my one year old son seems to be able to work magic with remotes and he is being blamed for changing the now playing list so the programs are all listed individually instead of being grouped. I'm sure its simple but I haven't figured out how to change it back. If anyone can point me in the right direction and take a toddler off death row, it would be appreciated.

Press enter from the Now Playing screen, then turn groups on.

Peter.

[hofmann]

Thankyou Petes trash. I was worried you were going to say that. So basically everytime I want to record a new show I have to go to season pass manager and scroll through the 86 programs I have season passes for, find the new program, then drag it around till I find the one I want to prioritise it over. I am only concerned about this particular program being in priority over the other programs in its time slot, it's ridiculous that I have to set it's priority in relation to programs on a completely different day at a different time. It just gets too confusing. Not only that, when I look at the guide, I still don't know what other programs my wife might have set so I'm not even sure what's all set to record.

When I used to look at the guide on mce it was nice and clear what clashed with what. I would also know if the program truly overlapped or just extended times so I could make an informed decision. As it stands Tivo tells me that a program will be clipped or canceled and I end up having to go back to see whats going on

Maybe there's some answers in the to do list but even looking at it bores the crap out of me. Take note Tivo. Mr Gates is walking all over your software and based on the rest of his system, he wasn't even trying. For such a nice machine they certainly missed some things. Have they actually used their own machines? Is this how they work in the states? I find that hard to believe. Has no clever little fellow in a dark room figured out how to hack this machine into submission?

[petestrash]

Thankyou Petes trash. I was worried you were going to say that. So basically everytime I want to record a new show I have to go to season pass manager and scroll through the 86 programs I have season passes for, find the new program, then drag it around till I find the one I want to prioritise it over. I am only concerned about this particular program being in priority over the other programs in its time slot, it's ridiculous that I have to set it's priority in relation to programs on a completely different day at a different time. It just gets too confusing. Not only that, when I look at the guide, I still don't know what other programs my wife might have set so I'm not even sure what's all set to record.

No, not at all. when you go to make a new season pass or just record a one off program and there is a conflict the TiVo will give you the option of canceling the existing recording, or in the case of Season Passes it give you the option to put the new season pass at the top of the list so it takes priority.

The annoying thing is that you cannot choose which of the 2 programs to cancel. The TiVo uses a system of Hierarchy to give you that one option. a manually selected show will take precedence over a Season Pass, and the highest Season Pass will take priority over lower ones. So to have the least issues make sure your SP list has all shows in the order you like them.



When I used to look at the guide on mce it was nice and clear what clashed with what. I would also know if the program truly overlapped or just extended times so I could make an informed decision. As it stands Tivo tells me that a program will be clipped or canceled and I end up having to go back to see whats going on

Unfortunately one of the downsides of making a device that anyone can use is that it is missing a lot of options that should be available to more experienced users.


Maybe there's some answers in the to do list but even looking at it bores the crap out of me. Take note Tivo. Mr Gates is walking all over your software and based on the rest of his system, he wasn't even trying. For such a nice machine they certainly missed some things. Have they actually used their own machines? Is this how they work in the states? I find that hard to believe. Has no clever little fellow in a dark room figured out how to hack this machine into submission?

The basic layout of the system has not changed in the 10 years that it has been on sale. This was done to keep existing users happy,as most people do not like change. But this comes at a cost to more demanding users.

There are plenty of hacks available to improve some functionality, but to make use of them requires a fair bit of Linux experience as well as removal and reprogramming of a chip on the TiVo itself.

Peter.

[hofmann]

Thankyou once more Pete. I wouldn't consider myself an advanced user, in fact the way mce worked seemed far simpler because everything was controled by prompts from the guide and the guide put everything on display in an easy to understand way. Tivo has all the same abilities as mce, its just the way it lets you use them. In fact, considering what you pointed out in your first reply there, and I will test that out, my main gripe would be that it doesn't show me what is planned to be recorded in the guide. Even if I highlight the program, it doesn't seem to mention it in the info bar. Is there really no way to change this?