# Dynamic tuner allocation?



## Bwatford141

Could so,some please explain dynamic tuner allocation and its significance in regards to the mini.


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## takeagabu

Without it you must sacrifice (all the time unless you disable it) one of the four tuner on your main DVR to allow live tv on the mini (turning your P4 to a P3). Dynamic allocation will make it so it will only use one tuner for live tv when available and you still have 4 tuners to use on your main DVR at all times.


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## Bwatford141

takeagabu said:


> Without it you must sacrifice (all the time unless you disable it) one of the four tuner on your main DVR to allow live tv on the mini (turning your P4 to a P3). Dynamic allocation will make it so it will only use one tuner for live tv when available and you still have 4 tuners to use on your main DVR at all times.


Thanks!


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## johnner1999

I stopped following this board and TiVo for awhile now so this may have been answered 

but is this feature available now at launch or is it coming soon via an update? 


off topic - but this new Mini is what is bringing me back to TiVo


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## johnner1999

johnner1999 said:


> I stopped following this board and TiVo for awhile now so this may have been answered
> 
> but is this feature available now at launch or is it coming soon via an update?
> 
> off topic - but this new Mini is what is bringing me back to TiVo


sorry for being a pseudo noob 

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9562200#post9562200


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## dhoward

Is there any word about when Tivo will provide the dynamic tuning feature to the Mini? I do not understand why they are taking so long with this feature. I get concerned that they might pull the same thing they did with the Mini and P2 and delay it until the P5 and then say it will only work with their newest model. It should have been released when the Mini went on sale, I believe. Tivo's track record leaves something to be desired regarding updates. The Spring update did not have it and even that seems to have developed some problems.


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## NotNowChief

I've been getting a little restless as well.

I spent 250 bucks on this thing, with a Lifetime subscription, and I use it for streaming only because I don't want to lock out a tuner on my quad-tuner Premiere Elite I spent 400 bucks on. 

As a longtime TiVo customer, I am used to this stuff though.


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## dhoward

It just does not seem that this should be hard to implement. It should be no different then when a message pops up asking if you want to change tuners for a scheduled recording. Is Tivo dragging their feet for a hidden reason?


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## NotNowChief

I think you made a great point when you mentioned about holding out for their next-gen box. I never thought of it that way.

I hope you are wrong!


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## Riverdome

This is Tivo folks. Long ago I accepted "coming soon" from Tivo (and other tech vendors for that matter) really means "maybe someday." I'm ready to upgrade a OLED S3 and get a Premiere + mini but this feature is something I won't live without. I want 4 tuners on my Premiere, I could live without the feature if my Premiere had 6 tuner to start with but alas we are not there yet.


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## DaveDFW

What are the odds that dynamic tuner allocation will be a "Series 5" feature? I can already envision TiVo propagating a specious explanation why it won't work on the Premiere.


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## lessd

Has TiVo ever said that a dynamic tuner option was in the works, or is this just speculation on the part of some Forum members ??
Many people have said, purchase your TiVo if it* now *does what you want, don't count on any improvements until they come. I think that is good advice. For me, as example, OD was a great addition to my TP capabilities but I did not purchase them (at the time) for that option.


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## compnurd

lessd said:


> Has TiVo ever said that a dynamic tuner option was in the works, or is this just speculation on the part of some Forum members ??
> Many people have said, purchase your TiVo if it* now *does what you want, don't count on any improvements until they come. I think that is good advice. For me, as example, OD was a great addition to my TP capabilities but I did not purchase them (at the time) for that option.


Yes they have said it was coming


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## moyekj

compnurd said:


> Yes they have said it was coming


 Right after single M-Card for series 3 OLED units.


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## Dan203

I seriously doubt they're going to make this a "Series 5" only feature. They have MSO partners who also want this feature and who already have Premiere Qs deployed in the field.

Although I don't expect to see this until the fall. We just got an update a few weeks ago. It's highly unlikely they'll release another update any time soon. If they were going to meet their Q2 estimate it would have been part of the update we just received. At this point I'm betting we see the next update sometime around when the new units are released.


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## dhoward

That update seems to have stopped being issued due to problems based on some of the threads on this forum. None of my tivos has received it yet.


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## compnurd

dhoward said:


> That update seems to have stopped being issued due to problems based on some of the threads on this forum. None of my tivos has received it yet.


The update was never automatically pushed.. Only people who signed up for it got it


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## lessd

compnurd said:


> The update was never automatically pushed.. Only people who signed up for it got it


Did anybody get this update on their Mini, you could not sign up the Mini itself but I did sign up my TP-4s and got the update on all of them, but not the Mini.


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## Loach

lessd said:


> Did anybody get this update on their Mini, you could not sign up the Mini itself but I did sign up my TP-4s and got the update on all of them, but not the Mini.


I looked at one of my Minis last night and the software version is 20.3.1. That's the new update, right? I did NOT sign up any of my Tivos to get this update. I haven't looked at the system info on my P4 or other Mini to see if they're on the same version.


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## Austin Bike

dhoward said:


> It just does not seem that this should be hard to implement. It should be no different then when a message pops up asking if you want to change tuners for a scheduled recording. Is Tivo dragging their feet for a hidden reason?


Are you a developer? If not, you probably don't understand the complexity of what they are trying to do. Having been in product development for many many years I can assure you that they probably aren't dragging their feet. There is always pressure in organizations to get things out quickly.

My gut tells me that this is more complex than they anticipated. They can't spin silicon because units are already in the field, so they have to do it all in software. That can be the issue.


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## Dan203

Exactly. And, as we've discussed before, it's very different then the message you get when sitting in front of the TiVo because when you're sitting in front of the TiVo you can only ever be using 1 tuner. With the Mini you can potentially using 2 remotely, plus another used by whoever is sitting in front of the TiVo, and the software has to be smart enough to respond appropriately to every combination of yes/no coming from all 3 devices. It's a much more complex problem then it seems on the surface.


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## dhoward

Austin Bike said:


> Are you a developer? If not, you probably don't understand the complexity of what they are trying to do. Having been in product development for many many years I can assure you that they probably aren't dragging their feet. There is always pressure in organizations to get things out quickly.
> 
> My gut tells me that this is more complex than they anticipated. They can't spin silicon because units are already in the field, so they have to do it all in software. That can be the issue.


The answer to your first question is yes. I am a digital design engineer and I have developed several products for the company I work for. I understand schedules and priority's. I can understand why my analogy maybe to simplistic but it does not change the fact that this function should have been available when the Mini was released. Tivo has a track record of incomplete features so yes they may very well be putting this feature on the back burner. They still have not fixed the SD menus so I am cynical as to when this feature will see the light of day. The fact that you mention that they cannot modify the HW is correct and the only solution is via SW only leads to the worry that this feature maybe only be available on the next gen Tivo. However, when all is said and done in this thread it is still nothing more then our own opinions and not one of them will change Tivo's pace of development. Everything is speculation.


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## slowbiscuit

Austin Bike said:


> My gut tells me that this is more complex than they anticipated. They can't spin silicon because units are already in the field, so they have to do it all in software. That can be the issue.


Or it could have been outsourced to people that don't really know the product and don't use it. The usual Corporate America syndrome.


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## Davisadm

dhoward said:


> ...They still have not fixed the SD menus so I am cynical as to when this feature will see the light of day...


What do you mean by this? What is not working in SD menues?


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## Dan203

slowbiscuit said:


> Or it could have been outsourced to people that don't really know the product and don't use it. The usual Corporate America syndrome.


I doubt it. TiVo does outsource development of their secondary apps like the iOS app and TiVo Desktop, but the main TiVo software is developed in house.


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## djwilso

I'll be buying a Mini once the dynamic tuner allocation is confirmed as working, but not before for sure.

I'd really like to replace my aging Series 3 OLED with one of these.


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## dhoward

Davisadm said:


> What do you mean by this? What is not working in SD menues?


They still mix and match sd menus with hd menus instead of all menus being in hd. This was supposed to have been changed a long time ago. Does not effect performance but is another unkept feature enhancement.


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## Dan203

They're slowly adding more and more HD screens. They'll get there eventually.


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## dhoward

Dan203 said:


> They're slowly adding more and more HD screens. They'll get there eventually.


Your are correct. However the pace seems to be one screen a year....


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## dianebrat

dhoward said:


> They still mix and match sd menus with hd menus instead of all menus being in hd. This was supposed to have been changed a long time ago. Does not effect performance but is another unkept feature enhancement.


I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


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## lessd

dianebrat said:


> I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


+1


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## Davisadm

dianebrat said:


> I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


+2


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## Jonathan_S

dianebrat said:


> I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


The one I most commonly see is the wishlist screen. But I don't think it's a big deal.

I was recently more annoyed a missing feature in the HD guide, the 'Find by Call Sign' function. 
(You can sort of replicate it by setting the HD guide to sort by name instead of number, but you've then got to scroll instead of typing)

Sure it's a feature I use at most once or twice a year, but I spent longer looking for where it went than it eventually took to check a different way.
(I use it so infrequently I didn't remember it was an SD function so I'm sitting there going "I know I was able to do this before; where'd that stupid option go?"


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## compnurd

dianebrat said:


> I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


I agree. Unless going into settings or account info which is very rare.. i dont see a SD menu


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## atmuscarella

dianebrat said:


> I'll be the broken record, in normal daily operation I have not seen an SD menu in ages, I've only seen it when doing out of the ordinary tasks, I view that as acceptable in my situation.


I also agree and will go one step further, the so called SD screens look fine on my TV if I didn't have info from this forum I wouldn't even question if they were HD or SD, they look fine, are easy to read and get done what I want to get done. Frankly getting rid of the "info bar" when going into settings etc. is a plus in my mind of course I already have the preview window, which I find annoying, turned off.


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## Bigg

dhoward said:


> Your are correct. However the pace seems to be one screen a year....


LOL. I'm about to set up 3 Mini's, and I really, really want DTA so as to gain back the full 4 tuners and the ability to have 2 live streams going out (obviously not all at once).


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## sbiller

It appears that TiVo Partner RCN is rolling out a Mini tuning update in September which could mean an upgrade for retail devices in late August...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=506303


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## NotNowChief

What are the odds that this will be delayed a few weeks/months like eveything else?

Or is this "different" because it is merely a software update?

It really is unbelievebale that that haven't rolled out the DTA yet. Even for TiVo.


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## sbiller

NotNowChief said:


> What are the odds that this will be delayed a few weeks/months like eveything else?
> 
> Or is this "different" because it is merely a software update?
> 
> It really is unbelievebale that that haven't rolled out the DTA yet. Even for TiVo.


I think a delay is unlikely at this point since we are weeks away. I expect that TiVo might be in the final stages of beta testing this update.


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## Bigg

sbiller said:


> It appears that TiVo Partner RCN is rolling out a Mini tuning update in September which could mean an upgrade for retail devices in late August...
> 
> http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=506303


That's good news. We'll get the 4th tuner back in time for the fall TV season! And the ability to run 2 Mini's on Live TV during the off-peak times!


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## dhoward

Hopefully DTA will be released in the Fall update. But now I have to hope they fix the bugs they just created in the last update at the same time. I have the sound problem others have posted about and it also seems to me that the time to change channels, when watching live TV, has doubled. It seem to switch faster before the update. Be nice if they actually made an update that is not one step forward and two steps backwards.


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## NotNowChief

Well, its almost the Fall. I came home from work yesterday and had some fall catalogs in the mail from various retailers. Any speculations on where the update is?

Or am I correct to assume that DTA for the Mini got put on the back burner because the engineering priority at TiVo is on the Roamio?

I hope unfinished products does not become their corporate business model.

Still waiting for the DTA.

I bought my Mini on March 11, 2013.

Tick-tock, TiVo.


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## atmuscarella

NotNowChief said:


> Well, its almost the Fall.


Well it is still 45 days away from the first day of fall and then you have 3 months of actually fall so if the "fall" update get here anytime soon it will be early


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## DaveDFW

NotNowChief said:


> I hope uUnfinished products does not has become their corporate business model.


Fixed!


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## steve614

On track for September, looks like...

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9761816#post9761816


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## NotNowChief

Well, I'm just going to go ahead and ask for some recent input here if anyone has heard anything from the rumor mill, I'm still keeping my fingers crossed for the update to the Premiere for DTA with the Mini.

I e-mailed support yesterday, in my boredom, inquiring about a DTA update for the Premiere. This was the response I got:

_Hello XXXXXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting TiVo Customer Support. I would be glad to answer your questions about the Mini.

The Premiere cannot allocate tuners at this time. I do apologize for the inconvenience. I am not aware of any articles from our website that indicate we would ever be able to do this. At this time, there is no ETA as to when, or if, this function will become available.

The reference number for this inquiry is XXXXXX-XXXXXX. Please refer to this number if you choose to contact us again regarding this request. In order to reply to this email, please log into My Support at www.tivo.com/mysupport. Replies directly to this email will not be received.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXXXXX
TiVo Customer Support Representative
www.tivo.com/support
http://forums.tivo.com_

So, are we abandoning ship on this update, or still hoping and waiting?


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## aeternal

Wow.. that is pretty disheartening. I plan on getting a mini but have been waiting for this update to come for several months now. I seriously hope that this rep is wrong. Seems pretty misleading after all the hype for DTA and to not implement it on the premiere boxes


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## jrtroo

Since when has a CSR provided detailed data on what future software updates will include? Somewhere between almost never and never. 

We will be getting an updated software distribution this fall, per a tivo executive, which may include this feature.


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## wmhjr

Actually, to be honest Tivo insinuated that DTA was in the works LONG before a "fall release". Long before they even released any data around the Series 5/Roamio. Tivo never commits to a product, a feature, a date, or a defect fix.

You are correct in that we will "probably" be getting an updated software distribution this fall, which "may" include this feature, and which "may" actually work.


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## Dan203

There is no way they wont release DTA for the Mini. Their cable partners have a bunch of Premiere units already in the field and they need DTA. Pressure from them alone is enough to get the feature included in a Premiere update.


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## wmhjr

Let's hope that's the case - and that it works - and that the release does not introduce yet further defects that cause other problems. I've been bitten too many times to not be somewhat skeptical at this point.


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## Bigg

Dan203 said:


> There is no way they wont release DTA for the Mini. Their cable partners have a bunch of Premiere units already in the field and they need DTA. Pressure from them alone is enough to get the feature included in a Premiere update.


It's good that the MSOs are involved... not only for TiVo since they make most of their money that way now, but also for us, since they force TiVo to get off their duffs and get into gear with stuff... at least 1st gear.


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## dhoward

I hope Dan203 is correct on DTA. What month does Tivo send the "Fall" update typically. The new TV season is starting and I would like that 4th tuner back.


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## Dan203

Historicaly it's been mid-late October. If they slip past mid November they typically hold the update until Feb-March to get past the holiday rush and CES. So lets hope it's mid-late October.


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## aaronwt

Maybe it will be the first day of Autumn?


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## Bigg

Yeah, let's hope so. Although I suppose I could kill Live TV for the Minis for the Olympics.


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## Dan203

Or just buy a Roamio.


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## bradenmcg

Dan203 said:


> Or just buy a Roamio.


That's what I did... Premier wouldn't have been enough with only 4 tuners, Roamio hit the goldilocks point for us.  Kind of typical TiVo that the older stuff doesn't have DTA yet.


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## wmhjr

Dan203 said:


> Or just buy a Roamio.


Absolutely no possible way on this planet


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## wmhjr

Dan203 said:


> Historicaly it's been mid-late October. If they slip past mid November they typically hold the update until Feb-March to get past the holiday rush and CES. So lets hope it's mid-late October.


If that's the case, a full year will have passed between the release of the mini (when they said DTA was "coming") and the actual release of DTA. You can't count the release of the Roamio as satisfying this, because when they said this they would not even comment on a possible replacement for the Premiere.


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## lessd

Who said, from TiVo, that DTA would come to the TP-4 ???


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## rainwater

lessd said:


> Who said, from TiVo, that DTA would come to the TP-4 ???


TiVo said:


__ https://twitter.com/i/web/status/369942645851705347


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## Davisadm

I know for a fact it is coming to the TP-4s


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## wmhjr

FWIW, When I said that Tivo "said it was coming" I was talking about discussions and comments made by CSRs (and people here on this site) back when the mini was first released. Not the belated promises - yet to be fulfilled - that they were finally going to do it (via Margarets twitter).


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## dhoward

Davisadm said:


> I know for a fact it is coming to the TP-4s


Ok. I will bite. How do you know this for a fact?


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## aaronwt

I'm sure people have been beta testing it for a while now with the Elite/XL4 boxes.


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## BigJimOutlaw

And RCN's guy confirmed it was a feature of the next release.


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## Bigg

Dan203 said:


> Or just buy a Roamio.


I would consider it, although right now I'm in effect charging Comcast's DVR rate to my roommates to use my TiVo stuff, and if I go to DirecTV at some point in the future, then I have to sell my TiVos, so I'd rather not get any more invested in TiVo than I already am...


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## dhoward

What is taking Tivo so long to add DTA to the Premier line. It is technically Fall  It would be nice if they could speed it up. As is usual, Tivo is sending Roamio updates and putting the earlier series Tivo's on the back-burner.


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## BigJimOutlaw

If it's anything like the Elite's launch, these minor Roamio updates might be Fall beta builds and they're holding back on the bigger fall release until the Roamio-related fires are put out.

If Premiere owners got the update now, it would be a beta build with inherent risks they didn't sign up for. So they're letting the smaller pool of Roamio owners be the testers first. Lol. (Not that I mind, I have some bugs I'd love squashed asap.)

Tivo has been soliciting for beta testers. If you're anxious, sign up and then ping Margret. Maybe she can do you a solid. But it's probably not too far away...

https://fieldtrials.tivo.com


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## slowbiscuit

Margret just announced in the Premiere forum that the fall update should be out by the end of the month.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=9846760#post9846760


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## NoVa

takeagabu said:


> Without it you must sacrifice (all the time unless you disable it) one of the four tuner on your main DVR to allow live tv on the mini (turning your P4 to a P3). Dynamic allocation will make it so it will only use one tuner for live tv when available and you still have 4 tuners to use on your main DVR at all times.


Trying to get a grasp on the anticipated DTA update for Premiere owners:

Currently, I can only watch and/or record on one tunervia the Mini - while the main Premiere still has 3 tuners to use.

So if DTA comes out for the Premiere - does that mean that if the 3 tuners on the Premiere is not being used, that Mini can watch live 1 channel while recording another - i.e. turning it into a 2 tuner Mini?


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## jrtroo

The mini cannot record anything, it has no hard drive. It can be used to trigger a recording on the Premiere, which is what I think you are actually asking.


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## NoVa

jrtroo said:


> The mini cannot record anything, it has no hard drive. It can be used to trigger a recording on the Premiere, which is what I think you are actually asking.


Yes. Can the mini be made to watch 1 channel live while 'triggering' record on another tuner?

Currently, I am limited to watch what I am recording


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## Dan203

NoVa said:


> Yes. Can the mini be made to watch 1 channel live while 'triggering' record on another tuner?
> 
> Currently, I am limited to watch what I am recording


You can press the record button to start recording the channel you're watching, then exit live TV, then go back to live TV and it should grab a different tuner.


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## aaronwt

Dan203 said:


> You can press the record button to start recording the channel you're watching, then exit live TV, then go back to live TV and it should grab a different tuner.


It will start the recording on a different tuner than the Mini is using. I know in my use it will typically grab the same tuner I had before when I come back. Unless another recording started between the time I exited out of Live TV and came back. But any recording I start while watching LiveTV from the Mini, has always used a different tuner than the one the Mini was using.

or did the behavior change with the most recent update?


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## Dan203

I honestly never tried it. I just assumed that if you hit record on the show you're actively watching via the Mini then it will need to use that tuner because it may need to grab data out of the buffer to get the whole show. If it starts recording on a different tuner then I guess you only get from that point forward instead?


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## aaronwt

Dan203 said:


> I honestly never tried it. I just assumed that if you hit record on the show you're actively watching via the Mini then it will need to use that tuner because it may need to grab data out of the buffer to get the whole show. If it starts recording on a different tuner then I guess you only get from that point forward instead?


Yes. It would be nice if it used the tuner that you were actively viewing to start the recording. Then it would behave similar to the Roamio. Then if you changed channels it would just grab another tuner.

But right now it does start the recording from the point that you initiate the recording. Although if the tuner it uses is on the same channel, then maybe it puts what's in the buffer in the recording?

EDIT: Yes, I just checked and it will grab what is in the buffer if the tuner it uses is on the same channel.


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