# "There are no Tivo DVRs available on the network"



## Treefarn (Apr 9, 2006)

That is the message I've been getting for the last week when trying to download shows from my tivo onto my laptop. This has always worked perfectly in the past, and nothing has changed about my setup.

My Tivo DVR can still connect to Tivo central to get updated program listings, so obviously the network adapter (Netgear) is still working.

Any ideas on troubleshooting??


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## ajayabb (Jan 12, 2007)

Did you test the network connection just to make sure. I had a similar problem and turned out to be a firewall issue.


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

Refresh the IP on your router and Tivo's. That usually works for me.


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## bighurt1b (Feb 23, 2005)

This has happened to me before, but I think I have a bad adapter. Every 2-3 days I have to unplug the adapter, wait about a minute, then plug it back in, then its fine.


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## Treefarn (Apr 9, 2006)

ajayabb said:


> Did you test the network connection just to make sure. I had a similar problem and turned out to be a firewall issue.


If my Tivo can get updated listings from Tivo Central via the adapter, doesn't that mean my network connection is ok? If not, how do I test it?


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## Treefarn (Apr 9, 2006)

aadam101 said:


> Refresh the IP on your router and Tivo's. That usually works for me.


How do I do this?


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## hyachts (Jan 4, 2005)

To "refresh" the IPs, one easy method is to reboot. Best way to do this is to reboot the router first, then the device (Tivo). One way to get an idea if the IPs are an issue is just to compare the IP addresses of your PC, Tivo and router. You can find the IP of your PC by the following:
Start>Run>Type "cmd">and at the prompt type "ipconfig"

Your IP is most likely a number like 192.168.1.xxx 

To find it on the Tivo go to:
Messages & Settings>Settings>Phone & Network and it should be in the upper right

The two IPs should be the same with the exception of the last set of numbers - those must be different.

If, like you said, your Tivo can get to the internet, the problem is most likely with a firewall. If you're running a firewall of any kind on your PC, disable it temporarily and see if you can connect. If so you may need to configure your firewall to allow the proper access.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

I just upgraded from a Linksys wireless adapter (WUSB11) to the TiVo Wireless G adapter on my Series 2 Tivo 240. My TiVo is no longer seeing my network (my router is Linksys WRT54G) and in my Phone and Network display, I am seeing an excellent signal (82%) but a really bizarre IP address for my TiVo. I am seeing 169.254.85.xxx where as all of the rest of my networked devices are 192.168.1.xxx It is displaying the correct name for my Network so I don't think I've accidentally tapped into a neighbor's. I am using a WEP secure network. Any advice is appreciated.

Joe


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## WayneCarter (Mar 16, 2003)

Do you have another device that you can try to see if it is able to access your wireless net - such as a laptop?


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> I just upgraded from a Linksys wireless adapter (WUSB11) to the TiVo Wireless G adapter on my Series 2 Tivo 240.


Did you get the MAC ID from the TiVo phone and network screen and enter it into the router's MAC Address filter and then mark it as allowed, or enter it on the allow list if yours is the kind that uses separate lists? That is the most common and easy to make mistake and will cause this.

Whenever I add a new device to my network I always turn all security off and get it working clean. I then turn each security feature back on, one at a time, and get the new device working again before turning on the next one. It saves a lot of heartache.

Good luck,

CuriousMark


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## rwmorrisonjr (Jan 21, 2007)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> I just upgraded from a Linksys wireless adapter (WUSB11) to the TiVo Wireless G adapter on my Series 2 Tivo 240. My TiVo is no longer seeing my network (my router is Linksys WRT54G) and in my Phone and Network display, I am seeing an excellent signal (82%) but a really bizarre IP address for my TiVo. I am seeing 169.254.85.xxx where as all of the rest of my networked devices are 192.168.1.xxx It is displaying the correct name for my Network so I don't think I've accidentally tapped into a neighbor's. I am using a WEP secure network. Any advice is appreciated.
> 
> Joe


It looks like the adapter has "self addressed" itself, which means it can't seen the rest of the network. Make sure all your security on the wireless router is turned off and then reboot wireless adapter (unplug/replug) and check the address. Once it sees the network correctly, start re-enabling the security, ending with WEP since it can cause the most problems if the key isn't perfectly entered on the Tivo.


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## celtdan (Mar 2, 2007)

I hade the same problem earlier this week. After other efforts failed, I just restarted the Tivo and everything was fine.


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## Tivoli (Jan 24, 2002)

I had similar problems and it turned out to be over crowded wireless channel, looks like all my neighbors have wireless networks. I moved to a different channel and all has been fine since.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll be reattempting to program/use the adapter and let you know what happens. Thanks again...


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## dubluv (Mar 3, 2006)

Treefarn said:


> That is the message I've been getting for the last week when trying to download shows from my tivo onto my laptop. This has always worked perfectly in the past, and nothing has changed about my setup.
> 
> My Tivo DVR can still connect to Tivo central to get updated program listings, so obviously the network adapter (Netgear) is still working.
> 
> Any ideas on troubleshooting??


check the ip range of your home network if you're using a firewall. my pc was not within the range of addresses (100-149), and until i changed it, my pc was not finding any dvr's. as others stated, rebooting your pc will reset your connection, and that fixes most errors. you can always check the access control tab under tivo desktop properties to get your pc and tivo's ip addresses. also, if that doesnt work, make sure your ports are open that tivo beacon needs to send its signal.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

_"Do you have another device that you can try to see if it is able to access your wireless net - such as a laptop?"_

Yes, and all other wireless devices are working fine. Including another TiVo S2 that is using a Linksys WUSB11 ("B") adapter.

_It looks like the adapter has "self addressed" itself, which means it can't seen the rest of the network. Make sure all your security on the wireless router is turned off and then reboot wireless adapter (unplug/replug) and check the address. Once it sees the network correctly, start re-enabling the security, ending with WEP since it can cause the most problems if the key isn't perfectly entered on the Tivo. _

Tried this as well. I started from scratch several times. I unplugged TiVo, unplugged the TiVo wireless adapter, disabled WEP, rebooted router, confirmed WEP was disabled, powered up TiVo, plugged in adapter, created a new wireless connection from scratch, and the TiVo couldn't find the DHCP server. Next I tried manually assigning a static IP to TiVo that was well within range of my router's allowable IP's, and still no luck. I would get 2 different messages. One saying TiVo could not find the Gateway and the other saying TiVo could not find the wireless Network. Also, I was able to watch my TiVo adapter while I was going through the steps of setting up the wireless network in TiVo's Phone and Network set-up and even though I would occasionally see two steady green lights on the adapter (power and link), the adapter was still not finding my Network. Then, the adapter would completely shut off (both green lights went dark) for no apparent reason. It would power itself up a minute or so later. When I went back into my phone and network settings, the IP address I had assigned was showing and an excellent signal of 80% was showing as was the name of my Network. But these were all false readings as there was still no connection between the TiVo adapter and my Network. Yet when I unplugged the TiVo adapter and plugged in my original Linksys USB "B" adapter, that adapter found my Network almost immediately and I had a 90% connection signal.

_"Did you get the MAC ID from the TiVo phone and network screen and enter it into the router's MAC Address filter and then mark it as allowed, or enter it on the allow list if yours is the kind that uses separate lists? That is the most common and easy to make mistake and will cause this."_

Yes, tried this as well but still no luck with the adapter seeing my Network. I have to work tonight but tomorrow I'll try and install the TiVo G adapter on a different TiVo box and will see if I have any luck that way.

I do have one question about manually assigning an IP address. That process asks for the subnet mask as well as a DNS and router address. The subnet mask, according to my router settings is 255.255.255.0. Is that the setting I use for TiVo as well? Also, with regard to the DNS number, I cannot locate any within my router settings. On the setup page of my router settings, all of the DNS boxes are showing zeros. And finally, are the IP addresses for my router and for my Gateway the same (192.168.1.1) with regard to the settings TiVo is asking for during manual setup of a Network?


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

Same problem. Came on overnight after a setup which was working since the beginning.

Rebooted Router
Re-downloaded and installed Tivo to Go
Music and Photos show fine on the PC
Rebooted PC
Went into Windows Firewall and made sure Tivo was there
Tivo Server is running fine.
All other devices on the network work fine
All Tivos can see one another and transfer
It's a Linksys WRT 54GS Router that doesn't have a "list" feature
Updated all the Tivo info through the network connection with each unit
Tivo Support line via phone was no help
Router and Gateway are the same IP address

More ideas?

Anyone know how to be sure Symantic is allowing Tivo connectivity?

Why would this no longer work literally overnight?



Barbeedoll


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## JimD68 (Jul 19, 2005)

Your upgrade switched your address from class 'B' to class'C' network, it shouldn't be a problem. 
Class Lead bits Start End Subnet Mask CIDR notation
A 0 0_0_0_0 126_255_255_255 255_0_0_0 8
B 10 128_0_0_0 191_255_255_255 255_255_0_0 16
C 110 192_0_0_0 223_255_255_255 255_255_255_0 24
D 1110 224_0_0_0 239_255_255_255 
E 1111 240_0_0_0 255_255_255_0 
(for better info Check wikipedia->Subnetwork) 

I have a feeling these problems have more to do with the recent upgrade in Tivo software to support the amazon downloads (but I can't prove it) Maybe a new Tivo desktop software is in order? I would change mine, but every time I try a new one, MyDVD chokes on it. I think my version is still around 2.0. I have not downloaded anything from my Tivo in about a month and when I checked it the other day I got that message. I haven't had time to look at this any further as it was late. Also, I too have a linksys wrt54g.


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

JimD68 said:


> Your upgrade switched your address from class 'B' to class'C' network, it shouldn't be a problem.
> Class Lead bits Start End Subnet Mask CIDR notation
> A 0 0_0_0_0 126_255_255_255 255_0_0_0 8
> B 10 128_0_0_0 191_255_255_255 255_255_0_0 16
> ...


 Thanks, Jim. I continued rebooting the router and on certain units repowering the adaptors and the Tivos. Nothing worked.

Then yesterday, two Tivos I HADN'T TOUCHED can back online. I did nothing more.

Today all five are back online. I think you were right about it being the Tivo software upgrade. Wish the Tivo Support Desk knew about this problem.

I appreciate your quick response, and it's good to know about the class B to C network switch.

Barbeedoll


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> I do have one question about manually assigning an IP address. That process asks for the subnet mask as well as a DNS and router address. The subnet mask, according to my router settings is 255.255.255.0. Is that the setting I use for TiVo as well? Also, with regard to the DNS number, I cannot locate any within my router settings. On the setup page of my router settings, all of the DNS boxes are showing zeros. And finally, are the IP addresses for my router and for my Gateway the same (192.168.1.1) with regard to the settings TiVo is asking for during manual setup of a Network?


Yes, use 255.255.255.0, that mask means that your network can have up to 253 clients. Basically if the subnet mask shows a 255 in a number group, then that number group of every devices IP address must match exactly, or it will not be on your home network. For example they must all start with 192 since that is the gateway address. If the subnet mask has a group where it is a zero, then each device on your network must have a unique number in that group of its IP address in order to not interfere with another device on your network. (Please don't flame me for oversimplifying)

If you have a typical router, you would enter its address for both the gateway and DNS server on the TiVo. It will then take any DNS requests and forward them to whatever DNS server it was told to use by your cable modem's DHCP server. As an option you can find out what DNS server your ISP wants you to use and enter that on the TiVo, but then if they change it, your TiVo would break and you would have to make the change manually to fix it. use the gateway address and you should be fine.

Yes, use 192.168.1.1 as your gateway address. Your router is your gateway, so that is the right number to use.


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

CuriousMark said:


> Yes, use 255.255.255.0, that mask means that your network can have up to 253 clients. Basically if the subnet mask shows a 255 in a number group, then that number group of every devices IP address must match exactly, or it will not be on your home network. For example they must all start with 192 since that is the gateway address. If the subnet mask has a group where it is a zero, then each device on your network must have a unique number in that group of its IP address in order to not interfere with another device on your network. (Please don't flame me for oversimplifying)
> 
> If you have a typical router, you would enter its address for both the gateway and DNS server on the TiVo. It will then take any DNS requests and forward them to whatever DNS server it was told to use by your cable modem's DHCP server. As an option you can find out what DNS server your ISP wants you to use and enter that on the TiVo, but then if they change it, your TiVo would break and you would have to make the change manually to fix it. use the gateway address and you should be fine.
> 
> Yes, use 192.168.1.1 as your gateway address. Your router is your gateway, so that is the right number to use.


Thanks Mark. I appreciate your detailed response. Also, I can't speak for others who take part in this board but as far as I'm concerned, there is no such thing as over simplifying something. When someone asks for help with a problem they're having, the more thorough and simple the response, the better for all involved. Routers and networking aren't something that comes easy for me so feel free to be as simple as you'd like in your responses.

Thanks again. I'll give the G adapter another try when I get home from work in the morning.


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

CuriousMark said:


> Yes, use 255.255.255.0, that mask means that your network can have up to 253 clients. Basically if the subnet mask shows a 255 in a number group, then that number group of every devices IP address must match exactly, or it will not be on your home network. For example they must all start with 192 since that is the gateway address. If the subnet mask has a group where it is a zero, then each device on your network must have a unique number in that group of its IP address in order to not interfere with another device on your network. (Please don't flame me for oversimplifying)
> 
> If you have a typical router, you would enter its address for both the gateway and DNS server on the TiVo. It will then take any DNS requests and forward them to whatever DNS server it was told to use by your cable modem's DHCP server. As an option you can find out what DNS server your ISP wants you to use and enter that on the TiVo, but then if they change it, your TiVo would break and you would have to make the change manually to fix it. use the gateway address and you should be fine.
> 
> Yes, use 192.168.1.1 as your gateway address. Your router is your gateway, so that is the right number to use.


 I also appreciate clear, detailed instructions. Many of us come to the board because we aren't computer gurus. Those of you who are and share your knowledge with us are our Tivo heros. Thanks.

Barbeedoll


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## barbeedoll (Sep 26, 2005)

barbeedoll said:


> Thanks, Jim. I continued rebooting the router and on certain units repowering the adaptors and the Tivos. Nothing worked.
> 
> Then yesterday, two Tivos I HADN'T TOUCHED can back online. I did nothing more.
> 
> ...


 Today all Tivos are on the wireless network, but no Tivo to Go DVRs showing. Could I need to change to another channel and rename my network?

Barbeedoll


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## Joey Bagadonuts (Mar 13, 2006)

OK, still no go with the TiVo adapter. I'm approaching the "wits end" mode here. What is it about TiVo and it's adapter that is different than other adapters that are pretty much plug and play? When I changed from a B adapter to a G adapter on my laptops, all I had to do was install the new software provided by Linksys and plug the new G adapter into the USB port and, voila' it worked. With TiVo, I assume the software for the G adapter is already in place, right? Why is that not plug n play as well? 

Here's what I have done thus far: I tried the automatic install and TiVo didn't see the DHCP server and assigned itself an IP address of 164 something. Next I manually assigned it an IP address of 192.168.1.1xx which was well within the range of IP addresses recognized by my router. No luck that way. The IP address took and the settings screen showed the IP address I had assigned as well as an excellent signal at 80% but those readings were false. TiVo still wasn't seeing my network. I then entered TiVo's MAC address manually into my router as one that should be allowed. No luck there. Also, while watching the adapter during all this, I noticed sometimes it would completely power off (both green lights would go dark). Then it reboots itself but only the power light comes on, no "link" light. When I could get two steady green lights to show (power and link), TiVo would then say it could not find the gateway. If it matters, I am using a Linksys WRT54G router.


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## CuriousMark (Jan 13, 2005)

Maybe the TiVo is starting to fail in some way (HD or other hardware). Have you tried the adapter on the other TiVo? Does it work there? If not, maybe the adapter is just a lemon. If it does, maybe the TiVo with the problems is starting to fail and a call to support for some diagnostics is in order.

It really isn't this hard for most people. My TiVo adapter was plug and play with no sweat whatsoever.

CuriousMark


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## Tivoli (Jan 24, 2002)

Joey Bagadonuts said:


> OK, still no go with the TiVo adapter. I'm approaching the "wits end" mode here. What is it about TiVo and it's adapter that is different than other adapters that are pretty much plug and play? When I changed from a B adapter to a G adapter on my laptops, all I had to do was install the new software provided by Linksys and plug the new G adapter into the USB port and, voila' it worked. With TiVo, I assume the software for the G adapter is already in place, right? Why is that not plug n play as well?
> 
> Here's what I have done thus far: I tried the automatic install and TiVo didn't see the DHCP server and assigned itself an IP address of 164 something. Next I manually assigned it an IP address of 192.168.1.1xx which was well within the range of IP addresses recognized by my router. No luck that way. The IP address took and the settings screen showed the IP address I had assigned as well as an excellent signal at 80% but those readings were false. TiVo still wasn't seeing my network. I then entered TiVo's MAC address manually into my router as one that should be allowed. No luck there. Also, while watching the adapter during all this, I noticed sometimes it would completely power off (both green lights would go dark). Then it reboots itself but only the power light comes on, no "link" light. When I could get two steady green lights to show (power and link), TiVo would then say it could not find the gateway. If it matters, I am using a Linksys WRT54G router.


I said this before. It seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I think this is well worth a try. On your wireless router try selecting a different wireless channel. I did this a few times and in the end I got very good results at one of the channels. Where I live everybody and their grandmother has a wireless network so the wireless channel was overloaded. Ever since I have not had any trouble with my Tivo network interface and what's more my wireless router does not need rebooting every other day


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## drbeat (Oct 31, 2005)

I'm having the same problem (have for two years even though I purchased a Tivo-branded USB adapter that was three times the D-Link price...). I'm going to try switching my router's channel and see if that helps. But still, no one has been able to address the question - if everything else works (e.g. Tivo can connect to the Internet and get updates, music and photo sharing works, then doesn't this logically indicate the network connection / adapter are working and that there is some other problem (most likely related to poor programming and driver support on the TiVo) that causes the box to randomly not see the network connection anymore?

Just amazed that after several years, they can add all sorts of c**p features to the box (have you seen the Music, Photos and more menu lately???) but can't get a basic problems like this addressed even when users have TiVo-branded gear and are obviously unable to get help through the lame phone support.


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## WayneCarter (Mar 16, 2003)

> ... most likely related to poor programming and driver support on the TiVo ...


Then how can it work just fine for other users? TiVo is pretty much a closed architecture (few hardware varients, common software, very few "options"), so IMO the fact that it works for others with the same model TiVo pretty much quashes the "poor programming, driver support" theory. You need to look for the cause of your problem in your specific system, network, or environment.
What model TiVo do you have?
What software version?
What make and model router?
What else is on the network in addition to the TiVo?
How many other networks are on the same channel _when the transfer is interrupted_
Can you detect any relationship between what's going on on the network and the interruptions of transfers?


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## drbeat (Oct 31, 2005)

Thanks for the follow up. My critique of Tivo's programming quality notwithstanding (I can back that up with any number of other inconsistencies, interface foibles, etc., etc.), I really am at a loss. I attempted to apply the latest firmware upgrade to my wireless router (WRT54G v4) and it killed the router, so I'm waiting on a replacement from LinkSys before I can pursue further.

That said, I have a Series 2, version 8.3-01-2-140. Router is a LinkSys WRT54G v4, the USB adapter is the Netgear one recommend on the Tivo store (with the Tivo logo on the box). The only other item on the network is my PC. I cannot detect much consistency to the behavior - it will most often drop the connection if I transfer files and do anything else on the computer at the same time (I've found it's best to leave the computer alone during the transfer and sometimes I'll even set the process priority to High for Tivo server). But often it will simply drop the connection when I'm doing nothing but watch TV. This despite the fact that the network connection status consistently shows a signal strength of 100%.

My opinion is that my network set up is very straightforward and TiVo indicates a strong connection. If it is indeed dropping it due to channel traffic, then I still content that TiVo design / programming is not very robust if it cannot trap for this kind of problem and at least provide an informative message when the connection drops or otherwise more accurately reflect that my connection is not as rock solid as TiVo claims it is on the status screen.

If this problem, or the handling thereof, had improved one iota in the last 2-3 years since I put the network in, I might be inclined to cut them some slack. But when I purchase TiVo-branded and recommended hardware at a higher price point, I expect better compatibility and reliability. It is my experience though that TiVo will always opt to blame me, my network or my computer system by default despite the fact that I am a knowledgeable technology professional well capable of identifying poor software and hardware implementation when I see it.


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## Tivoli (Jan 24, 2002)

My Linksys router cannot handle very heavy traffic. It locks up, need a power cycle to recover. So I try not to do too many transfers at the same time, otherwise the router will need a kick.

There are a number of things that can be wrong. In my case most of the time, it has been either the router or the wireless network being over crowded. Signal strength is important, but if your router has stopped responding than signal strength is not relevant. Whenever I get problems on my network, I check the connectivity on my Mac. If it cannot reach out, I know it is time to reset the router. I have a linux box wired, two Tivo DVRs, wireless, one Mac wireless and a windows PC connected wireless. Most of the time all these are using the network without any issues. But as soon as there is very heavy traffic on the wireless network (wireless to wireless withing the network) I need to keep an eye on the router.


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## twaller113 (May 16, 2005)

After updating Tivo Desktop from one version to the latest, my DVR was no longer "shared" on the network. Try this. . .

Click Server from the menu, go to Tivo Server Properties, go to the Control Access tab, make sure your DVR has a check mark.


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