New Foxtel/Austar channels

[Dave Hatt]

I'm having a wierd problem with the new lineup on one of my UK OzTiVo boxes since the change (and yes, I'm only just getting around to looking at it now!). I have two other UK OzTiVo boxes and they handled the new Foxtel lineup changes just fine, despite the fact that I thought they were all set up identically, and all use the UK 2.5.5 image. The one with the problem doesn't see the new lineup and it doesn't let me change the lineup through Guided Setup either!

Of course as luck would have it, this is the wife's machine so I dare not reimage it. Nor do I dare tinker with the settings manually. I must say that I'm stumped, despite being able to resolve most of my issues myself in the past. Hopefully this will make sense to one of the esteemed members here!

When I do a GS, if I select any postcode other than the 02000 setting it was using originally I get the following message after the initial call:

No ariel or cable/digital terrestrial channel data
was found for your Postal Code.

Please try the Postal Code of a neighbouring
community that has the same or similar service
providers and arial channel lineup.

The same happens if I try select another service provider.

When I look at the tclient log file of the machine I see the following:

12/28:13:34:53: /tvbin/TClient: Current postalcode: 02000
12/28:13:34:53: /tvbin/TClient: getting headendID
12/28:13:34:53: /tvbin/TClient: getting headend ID List info
12/28:13:34:53: /tvbin/TClient: working on headend: dbobj309
12/28:13:34:53: /tvbin/TClient: Found TmsHeadendId = NS12015

I figure it is somehow using the wrong headend, because the log file of one of my tivos that works fine says:

12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: Current postalcode: 02000
12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: Nothing found so returning: |DBS-0
12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: getting headendID
12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: getting headend ID List info
12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: working on headend: dbobj178
12/28:06:11:48: /tvbin/TClient: Found TmsHeadendId = NS02015

From what I can see, the Headend NS12015 has not been updated for the new lineup (I guess its obsolete) which shouldn't be a problem except that I can't seem to change the lineup through GS.

Is there a manual way to change the lineup for this TiVo? Or maybe a manual way to change the headend? I've looked at all the old documentation but haven't seen anything comprehensive enough on this topic.

Another thing that occurred to me is that maybe my UK TiVo has slipped off the list of the TiVo's using the UK image? Although I recall not being able to complete GS when this was the case, so I'm not confident about this being the problem.

[petestrash]

Is your TiVo setup for one source or two?

Please send me your TiVo serial number by private message and I'll check it is included in the UK TiVo system.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

It's set for two inputs (pretty much the only option with the UK boxes): Arial plus Digital Terrestrial.

I will send a PM with the serial number for checking. Thanks Peter.

Cheers

[petestrash]

You Serial# is still set on the system as using UK software, so that is not the issue.

Been a while since I played with a 2.5.5 image.

From memory your second input source needs to be for Pay TV, and the First source for the antenna connection. If you set it up backwards you can get the issues you are seeing.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for confirming/ruling out the UK related issue. What you say about the setup makes sense. I've been using the second option on the setup (Arial + Digital Cable/Digital Terrestrial) but you could be on to something as maybe I've been selecting Foxtel Digital as my first source in error.

Meanwhile I've been trying to get GS to work since this morning, but its been failing on the setup call with the message "Failed. Number unavailable"

That said, my other two TiVos are having the same "Failed. Number unavailable" message since this morning on their daily calls. I have rebooted everything (routers, computers, TiVos) so I am suspecting that its just unlucky timing and for some reason the TiVo server is unavailable right now!

I will monitor the situation and try your suggestion when it becomes available.

Cheers, Dave

[petestrash]

There are no server issues at our end, so must be something at your place or ISP for all to have the same issue.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

I was afraid you might say that!

I've been using TiVos with the same ISP (Optus Cable) for about 5 years with no problems (and no transparent proxy issues either) so I'm just putting this down to coincidence for now and will give it a bit more time in case it resolves itself.

Meanwhile I did try a ping test to 65.49.60.197 via Telnet from one of the TiVos and it was receiving packets just fine.

I feel like I'm digging the hole deeper at this point!

Regards, Dave.

[Dave Hatt]

Well the "Number unavailable" error disappeared by itself. ( Weird). So now I have had a chance to try Peter's advice to select arial first.

On the UK TiVo Image there are 5 Programme Source options:
1. Arial Only
2. Arial + Digital Cable/Digital Terrestrial
3. Arial + Analogue Cable
4. Digital Satellite + Digital Cable/Digital Terrestrial
5. Arial + Digital Satellite

I've been using option 2 on this box, but I've tried them all now without any real success. Here are the results:

1. Arial Only - not suitable for set top box use, ignored.

2. Arial + Digital Cable/Digital Terrestrial - actually this only gives one chance to select a service provider, so I selected 'Foxtel Digital - Satellite, NS' which is what I'm using. When selecting this one, the channels are still wrong, showing the old satellite lineup. In fact I just realised that each Foxtel channel shows (cab) next to it insteal of (sat). I wonder if that indicates this lineup was wrong from the start. Tried several other service
providers, including Digital FTA (wrong lineup for what I need, and no choice to select an additional Foxtel lineup) Foxtel Digital Cable (same wrong lineup as Satellite) Austar Digital Satellite (still the same old/wrong Foxtel lineup) and just plain non digital Foxtel (completely wrong channel numbers).

3. Arial + Analogue Cable - exactly the same as option 2

4. Digital Satellite + Digital Cable/Digital Terrestrial - I get the message 'No service providers were found in your Postal Code.'

5. Arial + Digital Satellite - exactly the same as option 4, i.e. 'No service providers were found in your Postal Code.'

Now I seem to remember having option 4 working previously on my boxes, and believe this was the option that previously allowed both FTA and Foxtel to be set up as Peter suggests. Maybe the problem is now this option doesn't find any service providers for some reason?

So to summarise: the old 'Foxtel Digital - Satellite, NS' service seems to select the wrong lineup (NS12015 instead of NS02015). When I try to change to another Programme Source that theoretically should allow the correct lineup, it instead fails to find any Service Providers (and I know this option used to work a few years ago).

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

[petestrash]

With the three issues you have:

1. This TiVo did not automatically get the updates
2. You cannot change postcodes
3. You are only getting the Cable headend, and not the Satellite one

All seem to point to an error in your TiVo's software.

The easiest option would be to do a full Clear & Delete Everything so the MFS is rebuilt.

I'll have a look at the headend which may have a workaround for you, but it would only be a temporary solution at best.

Peter.

[Dave Hatt]

Hi Peter,

Thanks for your advice. I was beginning to suspect that something could be corrupted, but was hoping to not lose the recordings (this being the wife's box and all!).

Out of interest I ran mfscheck with the following results:

[TiVo [p0] ~]# mfscheck
EventSwitcher stopped
mfscheck scan begins
Checking reference counts
All reference counts are OK.
mfscheck scan ends
mfscheck: 0 fatal errors, 0 severe errors, 0 warnings.

Now I'm not ruling out an impending hard drive failure, but the box is otherwise working fine and I did replace this drive 18 months ago as a precaution.

Either way, sounds like I need to start the process of downloading those recordings!