# Tivo Central - Transparent Menu



## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

I upgraded from Tivo Basic to Lifetime on my SD-H400 Series 2 a few days ago.

I haven't done any hack upgrades to my Tivos, just backup and restore:

After a sudden power failure a few months ago, the SD-H400 locked up during the boot process after a power failure. I had used MFSTools to back up a Series 1 unit I have, but hadn't gotten around to opening up the SD-H400 yet to make a backup. 

I managed to locate an SD-H400 image file, with software version 5.1.1B and was able to get the Tivo running again. After the Guided Setup and a 7.2.0 software upgrade, I backed up the drive.

Somehow during the process of the Lifetime Service upgrade the other day and a software upgrade to 7.2.1, I wound up with live video behind the menus, making them almost impossible to read. I assumed that the software had somehow been corrupted, so I reinstalled the 7.2.0 backup and did the setup again, but the problem remained, and again the software was upgraded.

So I decided to start over from scratch. I took a second identical drive I had and restored that 5.1.1B image I had, using MFSTools 2.0. At first the menu had its regular background, but as I went through the Guided Setup again, the transparent menu reappeared. (I've seen posts where people like it, but I hate it!).

I've done some searching on this, and all I've found are posts relating to images not being backed up properly. I have no idea how the 5.1.1B image was backed up or even which version of MFSTools was used. Should I try the older MFSTools?

Any other ideas? Thanks.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

Like you found on the other posts, when this happened to me it was because when I used mfsbackup, I forgot the -f 9999 flag which caused the background animations not be included in the backup image.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

But that 5.1.1b operated normally until I went through setup. So those files you mentioned must have been there.

Also, I followed the Hinsdale How-To guide precisely, and I'm, sure I used that -f 9999 flag.

And as I pointed out in my original post, everything was normal until I upgraded my service.


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## funtoupgrade (Mar 15, 2005)

You said you downloaded the image. Most likely whoever made that backup forgot the -f 9999. Get a new image from a different source.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

The point I'm trying to make is I have restored that image in the past with no problems.

I'm beginning to wonder if there is a bug in the latest Tivo software. When I restore to an earlier version everything is normal until the latest update happens.

Tivo should stop making "improvements" and changing my software without my permission! I was perfectly satisfied with the version that came with it. 

TIVO folks: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"!!!


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## JamieP (Aug 3, 2004)

Karl123 said:


> I'm beginning to wonder if there is a bug in the latest Tivo software. When I restore to an earlier version everything is normal until the latest update happens.


You said it worked fine when running as a tivo basic box and the problem started when you upgraded to tivo plus. Basic and plus use different background animations. It's quite possible the basic animations are intact, but some of the plus animations are missing. This is a very common probolem with images for 264 hardware. I know the 264 image from StanSimmons has been reported to have this problem in the past.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

JamieP said:


> Basic and plus use different background animations.


Is that really true? I've never heard of that before and don't remember any change in the animations when I upgraded my TX20 from Basic to Plus.

I'm by no means an MFS expert, but IIRC there are multiple boot partitions on a TiVo drive. This is what allows you to do a kickstart to boot from the "backup" partition and also how software upgrades work (the upgraded software goes into the second partition and then when you do the restart, that second partition becomes the primary boot partition and you're now running the new software). Maybe something about those backup partitions was messed up in the backup image?

Just thinking out loud here ...


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## JamieP (Aug 3, 2004)

windracer said:


> Is that really true? I've never heard of that before and don't remember any change in the animations when I upgraded my TX20 from Basic to Plus.


Yes. In tivo basic, there's a fairly faint "Basic" watermark in the background, at least on an SD-H400.


> I'm by no means an MFS expert, but IIRC there are multiple boot partitions on a TiVo drive. This is what allows you to do a kickstart to boot from the "backup" partition and also how software upgrades work (the upgraded software goes into the second partition and then when you do the restart, that second partition becomes the primary boot partition and you're now running the new software). Maybe something about those backup partitions was messed up in the backup image?


Unlikely to be the problem. The background animations are stored in MFS, while the alternate root partition you are talking about is a normal ext2 file system.


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## sterling70 (Jan 12, 2005)

So are there any recommended fixes for the "transparent menu" problem? Please advise !


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

All I can think of at this point is to try a different image.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

If the transparent menu is some new upgrade "feature", they should have included an option to undo it. Nothing under Settings about that.

I would like to try another image if I knew where to get one.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

As we've pointed out, the "transparent" menus are not a "feature" of the software that can be enabled/disabled, it's the sign of a corrupted image.

As for getting another image, try here.


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## JamieP (Aug 3, 2004)

Karl123 said:


> If the transparent menu is some new upgrade "feature", they should have included an option to undo it. Nothing under Settings about that.


It's a "feature" of your incomplete backup.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

windracer said:


> As we've pointed out, the "transparent" menus are not a "feature" of the software that can be enabled/disabled, it's the sign of a corrupted image.
> 
> As for getting another image, try here.


Actually that's where I got the 5.1.1b image some time back. Maybe I'll see if I can get a different one. Thanks.

I found an odd thing...if I go to Create Wishlist, I get the "Showcase" background, which stays there if I navigate back to Tivo Central.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

Well, I haven't been able to find any other SD-400 image except the one I already have, which appears to be corrupted according to other posts I've seen.

Too bad there is only that one image available to all who own this model. Neither is it available on InstantCake.

If someone can help with a new image, please pm me.


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## Karl123 (Sep 3, 2004)

POSTSCRIPT:

For reasons I won't go into (but partly because of this aggravation), I decided to cancel my upgrade to Lifetime under Tivo's 30-day money-back guarantee.

A few hours later I connected to Tivo, and my menu backgrounds immediately returned...proving that the whole damn mess was a Tivo software issue.

(An abominable way to discourage last-minute upgrades??)


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

That is pretty strange.


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## JamieP (Aug 3, 2004)

windracer said:


> That is pretty strange.


Makes perfect sense to me, if he downgraded back to tivo basic. He should now have the background animations that have the "TiVo Basic" watermark in the background. Those backgrounds were always present. It's the "TiVo Plus" backgrounds that are missing in the defective sd-h400 image in circulation.


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## tyr5229 (Dec 5, 2005)

You are right...I never noticed the "TiVo Basic" watermark.

A related question: does that -f 9999 flag apply to Series 1 units? It doesn't show that in the Hindsdale guide. I need to back up an HDR312 I just acquried.


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## windracer (Jan 3, 2003)

JamieP said:


> It's the "TiVo Plus" backgrounds that are missing in the defective sd-h400 image in circulation.


Ok, that _does_ make sense.

I never noticed the "basic" watermark ... my TX20 was only on basic for a few minutes before I subbed it.


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