# New Bolt and problems with TiVo Desktop software....advice please



## ualdriver (Dec 26, 2003)

Hello-

I just upgraded my TiVo series 3 to a Bolt. I transferred about 100 hours of saved HD TV programming from my old TiVo series 3 to my home PC using my home network and the TiVo Desktop software I originally got with my TiVo Series 3.

Once all the TV shows were transferred to my home PC, I disconnected the Series 3 aside and installed the Bolt. I now want to transfer the TV shows from my PC to the Bolt using the TiVo desktop software.

My PC "sees" the Bolt using the desktop software, but unfortunately my Bolt does not see my PC nor any of the TV shows on it. I worked with TiVo tech support a bit, and followed these steps that they gave me:
_
1. sign into tivo.com/manage
2. Go into Device Preferences on the Left side.
3. Uncheck Enable Video Downloads and Sharing 4. Go to your TiVo. Then go to TiVo Central > settings and messages > settings > network > connect to TiVo service now.
5. Wait one hour.
6. Sign back into tivo.com/Mange and go into Device Prefrences 7. Recheck Enables and Downloads.
8. TiVo Central > settings and messages > settings > network > connect to TiVo service now.
9. Wait an additional hour._

The steps don't work. I also rebooted the Bolt and PC for good measure. My PC still sees the Bolt, but the Bolt doesn't see my computer.

I have searched the forum and see that there are a couple of pieces of recommended software (kmttg and pie tivo), and I'm willing to give them a try eventually.

I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can do with this TiVo desktop software that may help with this network problem so I can transfer the shows to the Bolt?

Thanks


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Check the Tivo to see if it has the Media Access Key, if not, give it about 24 hours.

You can also look in System Information screen for "TivoToGo: a,a,a,a" If there are 'i' in there, its not set up in DVR Preferences.


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## waynomo (Nov 9, 2002)

Try switching the protocol from or to bonjour. I forget what the other protocol is named, but look in the settings. Whichever one you're using try the other one.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

waynomo said:


> Try switching the protocol from or to bonjour. I forget what the other protocol is named, but look in the settings. Whichever one you're using try the other one.


"TiVo Beacon" is the other protocol; I've had luck doing what you suggest, and sometimes rebooting the router helps.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ualdriver said:


> Hello-
> I'm just wondering if there is anything else I can do with this TiVo desktop software that may help with this network problem so I can transfer the shows to the Bolt?
> Thanks


On a normal system, things flow this way. With your Bolt in My Shows, scroll to the bottom.

Boot the PC. On the computer's desktop, there should be a little TiVo logo with an X over it. Wait until that X goes away. When it does you should see a "Now Playing on XXX" as the last item in My Shows. Depending on your computer it could take a minute or longer.


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## ualdriver (Dec 26, 2003)

All through Joe....thanks for the advice.

Thabto- The Bolt does have a media access key and an, "a,a,a,a"

waynomo & ej- I can't seem to find the menu selections in my desktop software that allows that switch? I know it's in there somewhere as I've had to switch it before but I can't find it!

JoeKustra- Are you referring to a Tivo Icon in my Windows 7 systray in the lower right corner? I don't have one. I don't think the Tivo software boots up when my computer boots up.

One other thought I had was changing the Media Access Key in the Tivo desktop software. Right now, it is starred out so I can't see what's in there now. I'm assuming that since my Tivo desktop software can see my Bolt that it is the correct key. However, when I tried to type in my Bolt's media access key manually to make sure it is correct, I get a message saying that if I change the key, my previously transferred TV files would be unviewable. That is not a risk I want to take as the whole point of this exercise is to transfer my TV shows BACK to my Bolt DVR.

Thanks!


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ualdriver said:


> JoeKustra- Are you referring to a Tivo Icon in my Windows 7 systray in the lower right corner? I don't have one. I don't think the Tivo software boots up when my computer boots up.
> 
> One other thought I had was changing the Media Access Key in the Tivo desktop software. Right now, it is starred out so I can't see what's in there now. I'm assuming that since my Tivo desktop software can see my Bolt that it is the correct key. However, when I tried to type in my Bolt's media access key manually to make sure it is correct, I get a message saying that if I change the key, my previously transferred TV files would be unviewable. That is not a risk I want to take as the whole point of this exercise is to transfer my TV shows BACK to my Bolt DVR.
> 
> Thanks!


The "server", be it Beacon or Bonjour, is usually on a delayed startup. The three processes that the Desktop uses begin when you login, not when the computer boots. That's why the little TiVo icon has a red "X" on it when you first login. I've used Desktop on XP, Win 7 and Win 8.x but I'm sure all have the icon. While I have it on my 8.1 box at the moment, I keep it disabled since I can't transfer files back to the TiVo unless I "publish" the program (folder) as an mpg video. I make the mpg conversion with kmttg. Since it's much slower, I don't do it a lot. If I need to save something, I put it on one of my Premieres. My router also supports transfer of the mpg files from the TiVo. It has explicit TiVo support.

I would check with Services to be sure a server is running. Use Taskmgr to see that the TiVo processes are running, and/or check the event log for a failure.

I just checked my XP computer. It uses the old free version. I enabled stuff, did a reboot, and it's now at the bottom of My Shows on my Roamio. Icon display is as described. Since it's not the Plus, it doesn't permit linking to my account.

I just transferred a 2.75GB SD program with my Roamio. Rate was 55Mbps. 95 minute program took 7 minutes and 11 seconds.


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## ualdriver (Dec 26, 2003)

JoeKustra-

When you said that little icon should be in the Systray, I checked again and saw that it wasn't there. I was going to uninstall/reinstall the desktop software, but found that there was a "repair" option in the Windows 7 built-in uninstall menu. Clicked on that, the program repaired itself, and now I see my PC on the Bolt. 

So if anyone else finds this thread and has this problem, try REPAIRING the Tivo desktop software, rebooting your PC, and taking a look again. The repair also fixed general Tivo desktop software malaise/lagginess that I had been noticing lately as well.

As a total aside to the above, concerning your transfer rates.....

I've never seen anything that fast! I have a pretty high end Cisco router and have the Tivo hardwired to it via CAT 5E wire. All of my recording are in HD, and if a HD show is one hour, it takes one hour for the transfer. It's basically a one hour for one hour transfer rate for HD programming for me.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ualdriver said:


> JoeKustra-
> 
> When you said that little icon should be in the Systray, I checked again and saw that it wasn't there. I was going to uninstall/reinstall the desktop software, but found that there was a "repair" option in the Windows 7 built-in uninstall menu. Clicked on that, the program repaired itself, and now I see my PC on the Bolt.
> 
> ...


Great news. As for speed, the TiVo network diagnostics agree with Taskmgr, so see what they display for length and rate.

Also, my Roamio and my computer use WiFi. The computer shares a port on a Netgear EX7000 and the Roamio uses a ASUS EA-N66R. My router is a Netgear R7500 that is going to heaven tomorrow. I just got the R8000 which I hope has fewer bugs. I also have two Mini (v1 & v2) that use Linksys WUMC710 adapters.

The slowest speed is when I use my Premiere to get data from a Roamio: about 60Mbps. Roamio getting content from a Premiere is about 80Mbps. With a Bolt or higher level Roamio, speeds of 180Mbps have been posted.


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## ualdriver (Dec 26, 2003)

JoeKustra said:


> The slowest speed is when I use my Premiere to get data from a Roamio: about 60Mbps. Roamio getting content from a Premiere is about 80Mbps. With a Bolt or higher level Roamio, speeds of 180Mbps have been posted.


Where specifically does one find the actual transfer rates, or are you computing them mathematically based upon file size and transfer time?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

ualdriver said:


> Where specifically does one find the actual transfer rates, or are you computing them mathematically based upon file size and transfer time?


Nope. With Windows 8.x, the network speed is in bps, unlike Windows 7 where it's a percentage.

Under Settings & Messages, Settings, Network, Network Diags, Transfer History. The values shown are the last ones, so you can check the time & date. I think it's # 1 or # 2. I never tried YouTube, and # 5 is from a Video publishing. They get reset on a restart of the box.


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## ualdriver (Dec 26, 2003)

JoeKustra said:


> Nope. With Windows 8.x, the network speed is in bps, unlike Windows 7 where it's a percentage.
> 
> Under Settings & Messages, Settings, Network, Network Diags, Transfer History. The values shown are the last ones, so you can check the time & date. I think it's # 1 or # 2. I never tried YouTube, and # 5 is from a Video publishing. They get reset on a restart of the box.


Ok, thanks found it. It shows 150Mbps-ish......WAY WAY faster than what I was getting before.

Thanks for all of your help.


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