Update advice for rookies, from a rookie.

I just went through modding my first tivo.

The tools that the oztivo group provided were flawless, but some of the other stuff left me scratching my head a bit, so I thought I would share them here in case it helps others

The issues were mainly because I dont understand much about the tivo's in general, and also a few visits from Murphy.

- Tivo HDD's don't mount in windows.
In hindsight, this should have been obvious (tivo is linux after all). My tivo with unknown origin would not boot past the "welcome, powering up" page, so I was assuming a dead HDD. When connected to windows with a USB->SATA adapter, it would not mount as a drive, so I was pretty sure it was dead. It would also not be seen by WinMFS, so I was certain! Turns out that it wasn't entirely dead, just that windows doesn't mount linux drives by default. The WinMFS issue is explained next.

- WinMFS must be run in administrator (at least in Win10) to be able to find drives
To be fair, I notice warnings from others about this (now that I know about it). If it isn't run as admin, it wouldn't see any HDDs. It wasn't until someone here mentioned it in a reply that I thought I'd try, and it could then recognise the new HDD, (as well as the old one that I thought was busted).

- The PLCC adapters that come with the TL866 programmer can be dodgy
I've used my prom programmer before, but never the PLCC adapter. It couldn't read the new PROM chips, and couldn't read the TiVo prom chips. I thought I was screwed until a continuity test showed that one of thee header pins was not making contact (it looked fine, and actually had continuity often when probed, but not always). A resolder fixed it. Turns out it wasn't just one pin, and this caught me out again later, so I just resoldered them all.

-The PLCC sockets cannot be installed by mere mortals (without mods)
I do have a lot of SMD experience (QFN, fine QFP, BGA, etc) and thousands of $$$ of SMD equipment, but I've never worked with PLCC. I thought it would be a walk in the park (and removing the old chip was), but fitting the socket was a PITA! You cannot get to the pins without melting the socket to hell, even with the finest tips. You cannot really use a heatgun without sending the socket into an unreliable pile of melted goo. The only option is to cut out the center (and refit later) or just solder the new prom directly. I stubbornly wanted a socket, so i did, but directly soldering the prom back is the smart option.

- The dial code has to be set to 140 manually
I assumed that the software script automatically changed the dial code to the oztivo value (140), but when I booted, I saw it was 000. I assumed that wouldn't work, so found where to change it in the menus, but it maybe a trap for other rookies like me.

- a tivo guided setup doesn't work on wifi (at least for me), and needs ethernet connection
Wifi on the tivo has been fine for me for many years of tv guide, and it worked to do a force connect after the upgrade as well. I needed to do a full reset (because my image was from a different TiVo), followed by a guided setup, and no matter why I did, it would fail at "connecting" with "negotiation failed". Then I remembered this happening when I bought my main TV 7 years ago, and I had to connect with ethernet to get it setup. That worked, and now wifi does for general tv guide info. I thought that maybe it was just me, but it's happened twice now, using completely different house/modem/isp/tivo so maybe will cause issues to others.

As you can see, most of these are probably well understood by TiVo experts, but I'm not one of them.

Also, not one of them had anything to do with the work done by the oztivo group... so full credit and thanks for such a great job!

Any questions or corrections, let me know.

Cheers,
Tim

Hi Tim,I'm a rookie of sorts too!
Currently in the process of getting my Tivo back up and running.So far so good.
That socket is very difficult to solder. I melted a fair potion of it.I ended up scraping the molten plastic away from the pins.Chip fitted OK afterwards.
My network connection is wifi and works well. Are you using DHCP? or setting the IP address well away from other devices in your home network.That's what worked for me.

Cheers

Hi Andy,

Yeah, I tried the first socket with a fine tip iron, but melted too much for my liking, so I took it off with hot air. The second one I cut the center out and stuck it back in after :)

I suspect you're right in that the network connection is something DHCP related. Here is what did work and what didn't...
- before a reset all, I changed dial code to 140, setup wifi (which asked for SSID/password, and if I use a DHCP server), and forced a connection. This all went well and it connected.
- after a reset all to link the TSN, I ran a guided setup. it asked the usual things, including setting up of wifi. The first time through, it only asked for SSID/password, and failed at "connecting". So I went back and tried again, and this time it asked if I used a DHCP server. I said yes, but it still failed at "connecting". I tried many times, because under a guided setup you dont seem to have a 'skip' option or anything. If it cant connect, you cant continue.
- finally I plugged in ethernet, it asked a different network question (cant remember now), to which I answered "i dont know", and then it connected fine.

I need a bit of help here, I received my tivo back from darren, what champion guy he is, when booting it up for the first time I checked it was set to dialcode 140 which was correct, I then was supposed to run guided setup then do clear program information and to do list, but I mistakenly ran clear program information and to do list first which is still running as I type, does this matter or should i pull the plug.

thanks to everyone.

Hi Tim,I cut the bottom of the socket out,did the soldering and used a small bit of glue stick to put in place.Just in case I need to remove it later.

Here are my network settings if it helps you
Wireless security WPA-PSK AES
IP address 192.168.1.XX where XX is my real number
Gateway address 192.168.1.254
Subnet mask 255.255.255.0
Broadcast address 192.168.1.255
DNS address(1,2,3) 192.168.1.252,none,none

Currently "loading info" up to 33% after about 1 hour in connection status.
Best of luck
Andy

Can't help you directly with this south22,I cleared as much info before I did the mods.If you got "Setting dialconfig to 140" on your screen,that part of the mod must be working.Please anyone correct me if I am wrong.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andymoz

Can't help you directly with this south22,I cleared as much info before I did the mods.If you got "Setting dialconfig to 140" on your screen,that part of the mod must be working.Please anyone correct me if I am wrong.

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Thanks andy, it appears to be going ok now, it did the clear and delete program info and to do list ok so now I am running guided setup after changing the postcode to 2000 sydney and hopefully all should be good.

thanks

Looks like most are doing a great job! Well done. To clarify a couple of things:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timbosaurus

- The dial code has to be set to 140 manually
I assumed that the software script automatically changed the dial code to the oztivo value (140), but when I booted, I saw it was 000. I assumed that wouldn't work, so found where to change it in the menus, but it maybe a trap for other rookies like me.

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Dialcode *IS* set to 140. The backdoor menu DOES come up with "000" in the boxes but that is normal and is no indicator of what the dialcode is set to. That is in the "System Information" screen in the third page down.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timbosaurus

Yeah, I tried the first socket with a fine tip iron, but melted too much for my liking, so I took it off with hot air. The second one I cut the center out and stuck it back in after :)

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Removal of the centre then putting it back in afterwards is the recommended way like mentioned in my how-to document.

Not sure about why you can't get WiFi going. I did have a similar issue a while ago back in the "old days" but it was actually the router.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by south22

I need a bit of help here, I received my tivo back from darren, what champion guy he is, when booting it up for the first time I checked it was set to dialcode 140 which was correct, I then was supposed to run guided setup then do clear program information and to do list, but I mistakenly ran clear program information and to do list first which is still running as I type, does this matter or should i pull the plug.

thanks to everyone.

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agree. I simply don't understand how someone can be so generous with their time, with so much selfishness surrounding us these days.

Now I could be wrong, but my understanding is that...

clear and delete program info will only clear your configs (thumbs, season passes etc)

clear and delete everything will clear your configs, delete your saved programs, and "relink" the tivo service number from the motherboard to a new hard drive. I needed to do this because I copied the HDD image from my main tivo to a different one, and without the linking, it said it had a message describing a hardware fault and could not record info.

you are forced to run a guided setup after a clear and delete everything, but I am not sure if this is the case after a clear and delete program info.

I read in the guide that you should run clear and delete program info before trying to connect to oztivo, otherwise there may be a day delay in getting the updated guide. I'm not smart enough to understand the reason for this.

I actually stuffed up as well, and connected to oztivo with a "force connection" before I deleted or reset anything. I then ran a clear program info to see if this fixed the hardware fault (it didn't), then I ran a delete everything, then had to run a guided setup. Apart from the final connection taking ages to download (2 hours instead of 5 mins), it all worked out well in the end. I checked the next morning, and the guide was updated, so no real delay.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timbosaurus

you are forced to run a guided setup after a clear and delete everything, but I am not sure if this is the case after a clear and delete program info.

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Not after a C&DPI, just a C&DE

Quote:

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I read in the guide that you should run clear and delete everything before trying to connect to oztivo

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I can't find that and not required. Generally this is the sequence:

a C&DPI to delete existing guide data
manually delete your old season passes
if required due to time being wrong do a guided setup and set your postcode to your states CBD

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Darren King

I can't find that and not required. Generally this is the sequence:

a C&DPI to delete existing guide data
manually delete your old season passes
if required due to time being wrong do a guided setup and set your postcode to your states CBD

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Sorry Darren, I mixed up my processes. The guide just recommends a C&PDI, not a C&DE. I will edit my previous post.

"It is important not to get guide data (which happens during Connect to TiVo Service, including the automatic daily connects) from the OzTiVo server before doing CPI&TDL."

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timbosaurus

Sorry, mixed up my processes, just recommends a C&PDI, not a C&DE. I will edit.

"It is important not to get guide data (which happens during Connect to TiVo Service, including the automatic daily connects) from the OzTiVo server before doing CPI&TDL."

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So what happens if you do get guide data first?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by andymoz

So what happens if you do get guide data first?

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For me? nothing bad happened at all.

I connected, then did a C&DE, then a guided setup. And all is good.

Hi guys, Michael here. Also just finished my first TiVo mod, all went well. Thanks to Darren for the chip and the guide.

My advice for rookies updating is to make a note of the orientation of the old PROM before you remove it. The square chip has one flattened corner you can reference to, a quick photo of the board before you start work will help.
Yes I agree soldering the socket pins was a pain, but with the centre piece trimmed out I managed it with only a little bit of swearing. I used a hot glue gun on the sides of the socket to hold it in place while soldering.

My TiVo used wireless connection before the mod, and it had no problem connecting to the network after clearing the season passes and to to list etc... Took a few hours but ended up getting program guide. Unfortunately it only showed the guide for ABC and SBS channels, everything else was to be announced. So I ran a guided setup and set my postcode to Brisbane 4000, (I'm actually in the Wide Bay postcode 4650) but same result. So right now I am going to wait a few days to see if it comes good before investigating further. Fingers crossed

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Timbosaurus

For me? nothing bad happened at all.

I connected, then did a C&DE, then a guided setup. And all is good.

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Just to emphasize this point; a C&DE will remove your MAK(Media Access Key) if you had one previously and you won't be able to transfer recordings between your PC and or other Tivos without a MAK.

I had no worries using wifi for both my guided set ups..the system also automatically did the 140 value on both, the usb boot thingo showed up the TiVo drive straight away, my guide works fine, albeit it does take some time, but you can see the progress in messages/settings/network/progress.