On 5/18/05, Michael T. Dean <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > On 05/18/05 21:07, Fedor Pikus wrote: > > >On 5/18/05, Dan H Orlic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > > > >>Just thought I should let you know... I own a tivo and the same exact > >>thing happened to me. The last moment of Gilmore Girls was cut off. So > >>she can say that! > >> > >Tivo is only as smart as the programming data, ... Tivo does seem to push > >updates a little faster *sometimes*, but again, this is an issue with > >schedule provider, not myth itself. > > > > > Does TiVo actually push data? I thought TiVo got its data via a dial-up > connection that it makes once per day. Or, are you talking about > DirectTiVo--which probably gets data off the satellite feed.
I don't think Tivo service can initiate connection, but they push updated schedules (and messages that some schedules were updated or might be off) every time Tivo connects. > > ... > > OK. So I decided to answer the question myself. It seems TiVo has new > "Series 2" DVR's to which you can attach a USB network adapter (not > provided) to allow the DVR to make use of your network. If the network > has a shared broadband connection, the DVR can be configured to use it > to connect to the TiVo service. If configured to use broadband, the DVR > will connect to the TiVo service every hour ( > http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2056.htm ). If > you do not have a TiVo series 2 or your Series 2 is not configured to > use broadband, your DVR makes a connection via dial-up--which can take > as much as 36 hours. > > So, at this point, it started to look like TiVo with broadband access > would in fact receive updates every hour. Then, I found > http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv1521.htm , which > says that DVR's using broadband to connect to the TiVo servers will > check for remotely-scheduled programs every 15 minutes and DVR's using > dial-up will check at a random time once every 24 to 48 hours. (With > TiVo, you tell the TiVo service to record a program and the service > tells your DVR, instead of telling your DVR directly as with Myth.) > During these scheduled-program-checking connections, the DVR only checks > for remotely-scheduled programs--it does *not* download any program > guide data. Program guide data is only retrieved at a randomly-selected > time every 24 to 48 hours regardless of how the DVR connects to the TiVo > service. > > I couldn't find anything definitive on the DIRECTV DVR (DirecTiVo), but > it seems that it uses dial-up to get the full guide data, but in the > absense of a dial-up connection will use the 2-3 days of guide data > available via the satellite. Therefore, it seems plausible that in the > event that schedules changed at the last minute and DIRECTV updated the > guide data being broadcast via satellite, the DirecTiVo could receive > and respond to the update. Whether it actually happens that way (i.e. > whether DIRECTV actually updates the data and whether the DVR can > respond to changes) is a whole other question. > > Therefore, it would seem that TiVo does not get updates any quicker or > more reliably than Myth. The DirecTiVo, OTOH, may in fact receive > updates that are "pushed" out via satellite. > > Mike > > Oh, and here's my favorite (from > http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv1521.htm? ): > > For 4 to 8 hours after making your connection to the TiVo service, your > Program Guide Data may show "TBA" with descriptions that read "Program > titles and descriptions available soon." This means that your DVR is > indexing. During this time, you can watch any channels and use any play > features (fast forward, rewind, and pause). You cannot record until the > indexing is finished. > > So, at a randomly-selected time every 24-48 hours it makes a connection > to TiVo service and then can only be used to watch TV--and not to > record--for 4-8 hours while indexing. Therefore, it seems that a TiVo > is 5/6 DVR and 1/6 DVP (since for approximately 1/6 of the time, it can > only be use to play--not to record--programs). > > BTW, what could they possibly be doing during indexing that takes 4-8 > hours? An 8088 should be able to prep guide data in less than 4-8 hours... > _______________________________________________ > mythtv-users mailing list > [email protected] > http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users > -- Fedor G Pikus ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) http://www.pikus.net http://wild-light.com _______________________________________________ mythtv-users mailing list [email protected] http://mythtv.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/mythtv-users
