# Repeatable Procedure for Getting Tivo Premier to Freeze



## azmojo (Nov 25, 2008)

I've had my Tivo Premier since it first came out and have suffered from the random freezes found on other posts. But I have stumbled upon a repeatable process that freezes Tivo every time. I'm wondering if this happens for others as well?

I have .mpg movie files on my home PC that I have linked to my Tivo through the Tivo Desktop software. On my Tivo, I browse the contents of my home PC and drill down to the directory with the .mpg file. I select the one I want, select transfer the video, and then on the next screen I am asked whether to keep browsing or to watch the video. I select continue browsing. I then located and highlight a SECOND video file to transfer. I select it to transfer and then I get the "Will Transfer Later" screen... press SELECT to continue. I hit SELECT and then it freezes. It will stay frozen for about 20 minutes, but I think that is related to the size of the files I am transferring.

This used to work fine, as I'd often queue up multiple files for transferring with no problems. I believe I've had this problem for several months but only recently did I try to see if I could duplicate it and it seems to do it EVERY time now.

Can anyone else duplicate this?


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## xberk (Dec 3, 2011)

azmojo said:


> I've had my Tivo Premier since it first came out and have suffered from the random freezes found on other posts. But I have stumbled upon a repeatable process that freezes Tivo every time. I'm wondering if this happens for others as well?
> 
> I have .mpg movie files on my home PC that I have linked to my Tivo through the Tivo Desktop software. On my Tivo, I browse the contents of my home PC and drill down to the directory with the .mpg file. I select the one I want, select transfer the video, and then on the next screen I am asked whether to keep browsing or to watch the video. I select continue browsing. I then located and highlight a SECOND video file to transfer. I select it to transfer and then I get the "Will Transfer Later" screen... press SELECT to continue. I hit SELECT and then it freezes. It will stay frozen for about 20 minutes, but I think that is related to the size of the files I am transferring.
> 
> ...


I don't think I can test this with just TIVO DESKTOP (the free download)..Don't you need TIVO DESKTOP PLUS ($25) to transfer video from your PC to the TIVO ?

I use pyTIVO. WMCBRINE's branch. Works great. I tried "pulling" videos over to my Premiere. I stacked up 4 in a row for transfer and my Premiere did not crash. The other day I "pushed" about 20 something videos from my PC to one of the TIVO Premieres. Initially that meant that the first one was transfering and there were about 19 in the que behind it. No problem.

I do a lot of transfer to my TIVO from my PC as I'm building a large library of home video on my TIVO. It's really wonderful to have all those "trip" videos on my TIVO (each trip in its own folder -- but that's another story) ..


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

xberk said:


> I don't think I can test this with just TIVO DESKTOP (the free download)..Don't you need TIVO DESKTOP PLUS ($25) to transfer video from your PC to the TIVO ?


No. TD will transfer .TiVo and .mpg (i.e., MPEG-2 program streams) without registering it.

As I posted here, I'm also unable to reproduce this problem with pyTivo, although I'm skeptical that it's a TD vs. pyTivo issue. I guess I'll dig up TD to check...


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## azmojo (Nov 25, 2008)

I didn't see that other thread but Cavanaugh is seeing the same thing I am...


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## aadam101 (Jul 15, 2002)

My suggestion is to just use PyTivo and move on. It's much more stable than TD and can handle more types of files.


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## brianfuchs (Apr 24, 2003)

To the OP, I see this exact same issue on my Premiere - down to the letter. Hangs for about 20 minutes on this screen, while the TiVo otherwise behaves normally.

Does not happen if you transfer one program, wait till it finishes, then do another. Only happens if you try to stack a transfer in the To Do list. Personally, I don't think it has to do with the file size; I am transferring dinky 30 min programs. The transfer is over within a couple of minutes, but the hang lingers.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

OK, I finally tried this with TiVo Desktop (2.8.2), and I _can_ reproduce it there. Fascinating. I tested it with short files, and if I can go by the blue lights, both transfers have already completed -- but I'm still stuck on the "Will Transfer Later" screen. This only works if the first transfer is underway when I arrive at that screen.

Edit: The TiVo's built-in web server is still responding, and I can see the transferred programs in the NPL from there.

OK, it just timed out to live TV, so I made the mistake of using the left arrow to take me back to the WTL screen -- and I'm stuck again!

...and finally, I still can't get it to happen with pyTivo. Surprising!


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

Are these "legit" .mpg files? i.e. is it something you originally got FROM the TiVo, or something the TiVo is SUPPOSED to support? If so, I'd suggest calling Tivo and explaining the problem.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

I tested with a .TiVo file as the first file, and a TiVo-sourced .mpg as the second -- the same files in TD and pyTivo. As noted, the file transfers were actually successful.

There's no such thing as a file that the TiVo isn't supposed to support, anyway. TiVo Desktop Plus transcodes. If you don't have Plus, TD just won't send an incompatible file. It's not like it's trying to send an incompatible file without transcoding it, and that's messing up the TiVo. That doesn't happen.


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## zowwie85 (Jul 25, 2010)

mattack said:


> Are these "legit" .mpg files? i.e. is it something you originally got FROM the TiVo, or something the TiVo is SUPPOSED to support? If so, I'd suggest calling Tivo and explaining the problem.


Why is that relevant? It's TiVo, not PoPo.

pyTivo works very well for me although its processor/disk intensive if Windows Media Center is busy recording at the same time.


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## brianfuchs (Apr 24, 2003)

For Tivo Desktop users, it seems that using the batch upload process (Publishing Video to your TiVo) seems to work fine. This is a fine alternative to trying to queue videos through the Now Playing list on your PC.


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## mattack (Apr 9, 2001)

zowwie85 said:


> Why is that relevant? It's TiVo, not PoPo.
> 
> pyTivo works very well for me although its processor/disk intensive if Windows Media Center is busy recording at the same time.


It's relevant, because 
(1) if it's using a third party program, it could theoretically be doing something unsupported
(2) I was also mostly asking if it was ripped DVDs or something that Tivos definitely don't legitimately support, even though lots of people are using them for that.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

1. It's using TiVo Desktop. Did you read this thread at all before you posted?
2. This is a purely technical issue. Are you imagining that the Premiere punishes you for trying to transfer a DVD rip by locking up? Or are you just warning a prospective caller to the TiVo help line not to mention teh piracy, lest they hang up? 

As it happens, DVD rips (and I mean in VOB format, decrypted but otherwise straight from the disc) are a near-perfect match for the TiVo, and can be sent to it without any reencoding. Not that it has anything to do with this thread, since as far as I can tell without extensive testing (and no, I'm not going to repeat a test that locks up my TiVo), the file type is completely irrelevant to this bug.


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## brianfuchs (Apr 24, 2003)

brianfuchs said:


> For Tivo Desktop users, it seems that using the batch upload process (Publishing Video to your TiVo) seems to work fine. This is a fine alternative to trying to queue videos through the Now Playing list on your PC.


Re-quoting my own post...
One interesting thing I am seeing:
When uploading a video from the Tivo itself, the file is uploaded with no Copy Protect badge.
When uploading from TivoDesktop, the exact same file gets a Copy Protect badge.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Yes, it's always been that way.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Ditto... I can duplicate the freezes...


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## Avi zevel (Feb 17, 2012)

I have the sane issue with my Elite.
Logged a case with TIVO back in OCTOBER of 2011 (111017-002518) and they claim that they can not replicate the issue. The only difference between my system and theirs is that I run on Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit

Can you guys (the ones with the problem) post if you are running a 32 bit or 64 bit system

Thanks


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

32-bit XP. That's not it.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

32 bit Linux Debian...


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Soapm said:


> 32 bit Linux Debian...


How do you run TiVo Desktop on that? Wine?


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## Avi zevel (Feb 17, 2012)

OK. Thanks for the responses, so it is NOT the operating system. They asked me to disable the "Fast transfer" on the TIVO desktop, but it still freezes, it is mind boggling that they can't replicate a SIMPLE 3 step process


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

wmcbrine said:


> How do you run TiVo Desktop on that? Wine?


yep...


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Avi zevel said:


> OK. Thanks for the responses, so it is NOT the operating system. They asked me to disable the "Fast transfer" on the TIVO desktop, but it still freezes, it is mind boggling that they can't replicate a SIMPLE 3 step process


My tivo is starting to do it with pytivo also. I don't recall this freezing before the last OS upgrade but I could be wrong.


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## Avi zevel (Feb 17, 2012)

If you guys/ladies can open cases with TIVO support it will help, as they keep on telling me that I am the only one with the problem.

The way that it works is that when you log a case they will try to close it ASAP to meet their SLA and nothing will be done. You will have to keep opening the case otherwise we will not be able to get any response from them.

Personally I feel that they are not the same company as of five years ago, they do not care about their customers. It is a shame they used to be soooo good


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## Avi zevel (Feb 17, 2012)

I found out that the freeze only occurs when using a converted file to mpg or vob. When transferring TIVO files it doe not freeze.

I use "WinHD video converter deluxe" to convert the files from avi to vob. Can you share what software do you use?


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Avi zevel said:


> If you guys/ladies can open cases with TIVO support it will help, as they keep on telling me that I am the only one with the problem.
> 
> The way that it works is that when you log a case they will try to close it ASAP to meet their SLA and nothing will be done. You will have to keep opening the case otherwise we will not be able to get any response from them.
> 
> Personally I feel that they are not the same company as of five years ago, they do not care about their customers. It is a shame they used to be soooo good


I upgraded the drive in my premier so as soon as they hear that the call is all but over. No case that's for sure.


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## grapkoski (Jul 31, 2006)

As a work around, I have been using the TiVo app on my Kindle Fire to 'unfreeze' the TiVo immediately. That said, this is bloody frustrating.


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## David Knowles (Apr 8, 2005)

Is there any update to this?

I have the exact same problem. Win XP 32 bit.

When I called Tivo to open a ticket, they say they never saw this issue before, but I am glad I am not the only one.

One thing I tried is transferring an AVI file - this did not lock up the tivo. The Tivo support person suggested this and said he would call me back (he never did though)

grapkoski - How do you use this to unfreeze it? Would this work with the iOS app as well?


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## Avi zevel (Feb 17, 2012)

I have two tickets open, they keep on closing them and I keep on opening them as they try to close it with no resolution. They are really unbelievable. 
I sent them couple of sample files and they promised a resolution within 5-7 business days (this was 10 business days ago).

The only way to deal with them is to open more and more tickets until they debug the issue and resolve. Otherwise it does not get to their engineering guys


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