# stuck in limbo with new hard drive and no land line



## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

Perhaps this is answered somewhere in the threads already but I could not find one with all the specifics of my case

Have Phillips DSR 7000/17 Series 2 dual tuner. 

Spent $90+ on new hard drive because old one is kaput.
No land line phone available

TiVo web site says set up can be made via internet. After investing $40+ in an adaptor for USB to ethernet connection I have hard wired it to my router. Tivo web site gives directions for internet set up but only the phone set up appears on the set up menu.

TiVo says DirecTV modified their software and deleted the internet option.
DirecTV says its TiVo problem. 

Help anyone


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## The Spud (Aug 28, 2002)

Tivo is absolutely correct on this. Directv has never supported the USB ports on their Directivo DVRs. Installing a new hard drive does not require the unit to "phone home". All of the guide data is downloaded from the satellite.

If you need help on how to install a new drive, that's a completely different issue and many of us can help you on that.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

How did you set up the new hard drive? You might need an initial "phone home" if you have to repeat the full Guided Setup. But you can do that from a friend or neighbor's phone line if you don't have one.


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

My guided set up only allows "phone in" not "internet set up" though TiVo says it can be done by internet

I have considered tying into my neighbors phone, if he has a landline.
Do I literally have to run a phone line from his house to my DVR? Or is there an easier way?


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## The Spud (Aug 28, 2002)

Yes, you can take your DVR to your neighbor's house to phone in. I don't think the box needs to be hooked to the satellite for the initial phone call (but I'm not sure).

Disregard any information that Tivo gives you about connecting via internet. It is not relevant to Directivo units. Tivo licensed their software to Directv and Directv chose not to enable that feature. The reason Directv says it is a Tivo problem is because Directv no longer produces a Tivo based DVR and most of their customer service reps will have no idea what you are talking about.

Another way to get past guided setup without a phone line is to hack your DVR. There is a big thread on the Underground forum that tells you how to do this.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=265929

Among other things, this hack will fake the DVR into thinking it made the initial call.


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

The Tivo does not need a satellite connection during the initial Guided Setup "phone home". Let it phone home from your neighbor's house. Then take it back to your satellite hookup to complete the Guided Setup.


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

Connected to neighbors land line via remote phone outlet (plug in wall sender and reciever. It works because we are connected to same power source)

I confirmed dial tone exists but when guided set up dials it either says "failed to connect" during "dailing" step or "service won't answer if into the "connecting" step on set up screen. All the while a message says "updating dial in phone number list"

Any suggestions out there?


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

phylnbill said:


> Any suggestions out there?


Yes, physically carry the unit to your neighbors house and plug it in to allow the phone call to complete. Those plug in units don't work very well when trying to make a Tivo call. I tried using them years ago and never got them working more than occasionally.


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## The Spud (Aug 28, 2002)

bengalfreak said:


> Yes, physically carry the unit to your neighbors house and plug it in to allow the phone call to complete. Those plug in units don't work very well when trying to make a Tivo call. I tried using them years ago and never got them working more than occasionally.


This. Also, if your neighbor has Vonage or another VOIP phone service you may have trouble making the call.


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

Thanks to those who have stuck with me on this thread. It still isn't resolved as explained below. I hope someone can come up with the answer.

I lost track of how much time I spent on this project. I gave up and put the old hard drive back in. At least we can record and watch TV though at times very haltingly. Gotta record Daily Show and Colbert.

Connected recorder directly to neighbors phone, still nothing.

With long phone cord to neighbors line spent an hour + talking to a very helpfull TiVo tech.

Bottom line is that the setup menu did not allow an option of entering local phone number nor were there any numbers stored to initiate call.

The TiVo tech finally said that Dirctv needed to supply a POP number so that the calls could be initiated.

Next call to Directv yielded an indifferent tech who claimed she had no idea what the TiVo tech was talking about. (Neither do I).

Reinstalled old drive and will pursue a fix with the new hard drive vendor.


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## lew (Mar 12, 2002)

PP suggested using "zipper". That will let you make a "fakecall". 
Backup your existing hard drive. Restore (and expand) it on your new hard drive. You shouldn't have to repeat guided setup.
I thought the first phone call (setup) was to a 800 number which D/L and updated list of local numbers.
Try multiple local numbers, maybe even try a number local to you. Most phone plans don't charge extra for long distance calls.

The zipper approach is the easiest solution.


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## sven_kirk (Sep 11, 2005)

lew said:


> The zipper approach is the easiest solution.


I also agree on the zipper. You don't have to 'call in' to run the setup (as long as the receiver is already activated). I haven't gotten too many messages from DTV. Only those promoting channels, and those are rare.

You may need the InstantCake image for your DirecTivo.


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

So, is the problem now that you just don't have a local number (or the default 800 number) to call into? It sounds like you're getting dial tone, but reconfirm that. Also, what version of code is on the new drive? It sounds like you made it yourself, what all did you build?

Assuming you have dial tone, if you need to manually enter a telephone number, search around in the threads here for a local number for you. If you can't find it, inbox one of us with your state/city info and I/we'll get a number to you. At that point, you should be golden.

I would recommend, though, not call Tivo support since they don't really have a thing to do with the DirecTV boxes. Calling DirecTV support will probably not get you very far, as it's been almost 4 years since they sold DirecTivos and even though they should still have good support for them, they don't. I would argue they don't have good support for anything at all, but SD DirecTivos have especially bad support as they simply don't work with them much and you would have to bend and break arms to get escalated to Tier 2/3 where someone would actually know what they're doing. 

In my experience, the best tech support for DirecTivos is this board.


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

The drive supplier is Weaknees. They asked if I could still dialout using the old drive I reinstalled . I tried several of the dial in numbers presented whille still hooked to neighbors land line. I could not connect. Weakees suggests that if that is the case the modem (in the Tivo I assume?) is bad. Not out of the question but it workrd fine until I dumped landline in July. If so how to fix that?

I am left with the nagging question does my neihbor only think he has a land line and is really on Time Warner. or VOIP.

To Lew ---I can get many dialup numbers off my old drive setup. The problem is there is there is noway to enter them in the set up rountine presented by the new drive.


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## The Spud (Aug 28, 2002)

By the way, since you can use your old drive, what is the specific problem you are having? There are some power supply and tuner issues that can affect your picture. Replacing the hard drive would not solve those problems


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

Alright:

1) can you dial out with the old hard drive installed? If so, then it's a config issue on the setup with the new drive and should be fixable enough. 

2) If you can't dial out with the old drive, then either your modem on the Tivo is toast, or your neighbor has phone issues. Now, with your neighbor, are you plugging into a wall jack or something else? He would know if he's on VOIP, so ask him what he uses for phone. 

Start from there and test each piece out at a time. Now, with the new drive, you say you can't enter in a number to dial. So, from the main Tivo screen, under "Messages & Settings -> Settings -> Phone -> Change phone settings -> Dial-in Number" do you get the three boxes to enter in your area code? If so, what pops up after you punch in the area code? Do you get just a blank screen? If so, what if you use "800" as the area code? Mine will pop up after enter with "The Recorder will now make a toll-free call to get a list of dial-in numbers in your area". It sounds like this is where you hit the wall, or is it earlier when you just punch in your area code? Exactly what number is the Tivo trying to dial? Did you try all the permutations with 7 vs 10-digit dialing, tone vs pulse, all that stuff?


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

Been on hiatus with this thread because

A. reinstalled old hard drive has been working well for three days although signs of original problems have been creeping back.
B. waited on neighbor to tell me if he had landline and yes he does with DSL Maybe DSL is the reason I can't dial out even with the old drive?

As forfinding a number to dial with the new drive installed the Weaknees tech said to enter ,#96,,XXXXXXXXXX. in the phone options Prefix number. The X's replaced by a number obtained on the old drive dial out list.

Need to find out if DSL is the dialout problem and work around if it is.


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## catocony (Nov 14, 2006)

Yep, that's the next step. Try to dial out with the old drive installed and let us know the results


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## HellFish (Jan 28, 2007)

lew said:


> PP suggested using "zipper". That will let you make a "fakecall".
> Backup your existing hard drive. Restore (and expand) it on your new hard drive. You shouldn't have to repeat guided setup.


To expand on what lew said in #2, have you heard of winmfs? You can copy all of the contents of your old drive onto your new drive. Which means you won't have to do the guided setup, and you can keep all of your recordings.

http://mfslive.org/winmfs/


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## phylnbill (Oct 24, 2009)

For a lot of reason if I was to get this resolved the best approach was suggested by Hellfish. It took me a while to assemble everything needed but finally got there. Downloaded WINMFS latest Beta release. 
It won't work! Under FILE there is only one option SELECT DRIVE. When ativated that option only shows blank data in the A and B drive listing. Basically that's it, Its a dead end.

Anyone used this? Can you shed any light on getting this program to operate?


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## HellFish (Jan 28, 2007)

You have both the old and new drives hooked up, correct?

If you have questions about that particular program, you would probably have better luck on their forums:
WinMFS Support


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## goo_nadd (Sep 26, 2009)

I had the same problem. Spent $100.00 on a new HD and could'nt make the call with Vontage. Wasted a bunch of time and money. Threw the HR-250
in the trash ( minus the new HD) and got the DTV HD DVR. With the new double play option I have no need for the PITA Tivo hoops.

500 gig HD with HR 250 image for sale cheap!


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## shore (Nov 20, 2001)

If you have access to a FA120 USB Ethernet adapter (or "approved" equal) you can install it and set the area code to 877 and call in over the internet

I have used this in the past to update my sisters non-hacked unit.

I do not know if this method still works with newer software versions.


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## pbubel (Jan 31, 2002)

shore said:


> If you have access to a FA120 USB Ethernet adapter (or "approved" equal) you can install it and set the area code to 877 and call in over the internet
> 
> I have used this in the past to update my sisters non-hacked unit.
> 
> I do not know if this method still works with newer software versions.


I've done this also. Its been a while but I had to switch to this method after I dropped my POTS line in favor of Vonage.


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