# Inactivity Timer on Mini and One More Thing



## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

So I recently bought a Mini for my bedroom since they are not charging a monthly fee for it anymore and found out about this Inactivity Timer they have set in the software. Tech support says it times out after 90 minutes, but the "ARE YOU THERE" message starts displaying after 4 hours and 15 minutes later it just goes to Tivo Central, wrong again tech support. I bought it mainly to listen to Music Choice or CNN when I go to bed and woke up the first night and found this out expecting it to still be playing whatever I went to bed listening to (TV not on, just A/V). No Sound...I do not understand why Tivo always wants to control our viewing behaviors. There is no option to turn this "feature" off or any option at all to extend the timeout, as expected from Tivo Development who does not even know what the word OPTIONS really means. I have a Roamio Pro and gladly can give up one of it's six tuners to dedicate to the Mini. Actually contrary to what tech support says, the timer is not 90 minutes nor is the only way to give that tuner back to the RP is by turning off the Mini. You only have to go to Tivo Central and that disconnects it. Also I find it highly annoying that if you are watching a recording from My Shows or Netflix or On Demand or from wherever and when it finishes it takes forever for it to timeout and then it just goes back to Tivo Central instead of just starting to play the tuner, which should NOT be disconnected. The Mini should work like the main unit with regards to these two deficiencies. We pay for this equipment and I was wondering if anyone out there feels the same way? Tivo seems to think it should be like that, no extension of the timeout and no plans on changing the way it works. Let's not even discuss that there is no optical audio out jack on the box (my A/V in the bedroom is an older non-HDMI Yamaha that works perfectly fine), however I found out that for $40 or so you can buy a box that has HDMI in and HDMI out to the TV and also has optical audio out to the A/V. I personally only have small front and center speakers in my bedroom, so the sound is not a really big deal. I really do not understand the brains behind Tivo Development.... But I must say it really is amazing how it all works with MOCA and since it now has free lifetime service which is included in the price of the Mini.

Comments anyone? I could not find this topic in the first few pages of this thread which is why I am posting it and sorry if this has already been discussed. *Thanks.
*
*Hopefully I have used good grammar, etc since I know how some people are in here...*


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

samccfl99 said:


> So I recently bought a Mini for my bedroom since they are not charging a monthly fee for it anymore and found out about this Inactivity Timer they have set in the software. Tech support says it times out after 90 minutes, but the "ARE YOU THERE" message starts displaying after 4 hours and 15 minutes later it just goes to Tivo Central, wrong again tech support. I bought it mainly to listen to Music Choice or CNN when I go to bed and woke up the first night and found this out expecting it to still be playing whatever I went to bed listening to (TV not on, just A/V). No Sound...I do not understand why Tivo always wants to control our viewing behaviors. There is no option to turn this "feature" off or any option at all to extend the timeout, as expected from Tivo Development who does not even know what the word OPTIONS really means. I have a Roamio Pro and gladly can give up one of it's six tuners to dedicate to the Mini. Actually contrary to what tech support says, the timer is not 90 minutes nor is the only way to give that tuner back to the RP is by turning off the Mini. You only have to go to Tivo Central and that disconnects it. Also I find it highly annoying that if you are watching a recording from My Shows or Netflix or On Demand or from wherever and when it finishes it takes forever for it to timeout and then it just goes back to Tivo Central instead of just starting to play the tuner, which should NOT be disconnected. The Mini should work like the main unit with regards to these two deficiencies. We pay for this equipment and I was wondering if anyone out there feels the same way? Tivo seems to think it should be like that, no extension of the timeout and no plans on changing the way it works. Let's not even discuss that there is no optical audio out jack on the box (my A/V in the bedroom is an older non-HDMI Yamaha that works perfectly fine), however I found out that for $40 or so you can buy a box that has HDMI in and HDMI out to the TV and also has optical audio out to the A/V. I personally only have small front and center speakers in my bedroom, so the sound is not a really big deal. I really do not understand the brains behind Tivo Development.... But I must say it really is amazing how it all works with MOCA and since it now has free lifetime service which is included in the price of the Mini.
> 
> Comments anyone? I could not find this topic in the first few pages of this thread which is why I am posting it and sorry if this has already been discussed. *Thanks.
> *
> *Hopefully I have used good grammar, etc since I know how some people are in here...*


Hi, 
In response to the timeout feature on the minis...I think an option to disable the timeout would be rarely used on purpose. The reason you possibly didn't find any similar threads is because there is little if any significant interest in it. Further, if this "option" were accidentally enabled, it might well negatively impact people with a number of minis by unnecessarily removing tuners from the pool for recording on the DVR.
I also suspect that besides the programming time and vastly complicating the software there is simply a limit to how much space is available for code and the more fixed features coverted to optional the more complicated the software. Feel free to add it in the suggestions but don't put any money on it's implementation.


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## HuskerMike (Jun 16, 2014)

This has been discussed many times in many threads here, but Tivo has done nothing about it, so thread posters have simply given up on Tivo. I can't imagine why they would NOT add this feature, other than they simply don't know how to do so. Perhaps they outsource their programming to other countries? Or they only have 1 programmer? Hard to say.
Regardless, there are many good reasons to not have the timeout. You've found a good one with music, and this could be very useful in other ways too. But it seems the Tivo management have never considered the idea that a Tivo mini can be used in ways other than by a person watching from a couch in a single room.
So, OP, you are definitely not alone. But unfortunately that's Tivo for you. Remember, it took them literally YEARS to add the feature to crop overlapping programs. Seriously.


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## tarheelblue32 (Jan 13, 2014)

As far as the timeout, it actually used to be 90 minutes, but I guess enough people complained about that being too short that TiVo changed it to 4 hours in a software update a while back. I actually would like to have the option to change the timeout length, but it's not really the most important feature that I wish TiVo would add.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

There are a few people who extended the time out by automatically poking the Mini with usage patterns.

One way is to use a PC and the TCP remote.
There's another way to use an embedded device to send keep alive IR messages. I haven't heard anyone do this, but I should be able to make such a device is if there's actual interest.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

tarheelblue32 said:


> As far as the timeout, it actually used to be 90 minutes, but I guess enough people complained about that being too short that TiVo changed it to 4 hours in a software update a while back. I actually would like to have the option to change the timeout length, but it's not really the most important feature that I wish TiVo would add.


With a 12 hour option I could use the Mini in the bedroom as my wife likes the TV on all night (no comments about that please) so I have to have another Roamio in the bedroom, also the kitchen for the same reason. 12 hours would be a good comprise IMHO


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

telemark said:


> There are a few people who extended the time out by automatically poking the Mini with usage patterns.
> 
> One way is to use a PC and the TCP remote.
> There's another way to use an embedded device to send keep alive IR messages. I haven't heard anyone do this, but I should be able to make such a device is if there's actual interest.


This is an interesting thought. I could research it, but could you shortly elaborate on how to accomplish this using a PC (I got one that is ALWAYS up...LOL) and the TCP remote? *THANKS!!!* :up:


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

lessd said:


> With a 12 hour option I could use the Mini in the bedroom as my wife likes the TV on all night (no comments about that please) so I have to have another Roamio in the bedroom, also the kitchen for the same reason. 12 hours would be a good comprise IMHO


Thanks for the post. That is a sad state of affairs...LOL. Yes, maybe they do it to sell more NON-MINIS...LOL. I would not put it past them. SIX WOULD DO FOR ME, I DON'T SLEEP THAT LONG...LOL (of course i prefer OFF). As I said, I do not have the TV itself on when I go to bed, just the A/V...THEY DO NOT LIKE TO GIVE USER OPTIONS AS WE ALL KNOW. The last USELESS option was the "POWER SAVER". WHAT THE HECK IS THAT ALL ABOUT?????????? 

*UPDATE:* Someone pointed to an older thread and you sir are on the top of the thread dated 06-27-2014...THEY LISTENED WELL....LOLOLOL...LOVE IT!!!


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

tarheelblue32 said:


> As far as the timeout, it actually used to be 90 minutes, but I guess enough people complained about that being too short that TiVo changed it to 4 hours in a software update a while back. I actually would like to have the option to change the timeout length, but it's not really the most important feature that I wish TiVo would add.


Well that is interesting because stupid tech support still states it is 90 minutes. IDIOTS!!!

WHAT DO THEY DO SOFTWARE WISE??? Let us review what they have done since I bought my XL4 in 05-2012 and got rid of the slow piece of crap for a Roamio Pro in 11-2013:

Took them about a year or more to fix the crazy C133 that they kept blaming our personal networks for and they finally fixed it in 20.4.6.

They created streaming to IPADs and then it was a year or more until they brought it to the WONDERFUL android platform (I hate rotten apples and the reason I have an IPAD to begin with is because I won it in the casino...LOL). Anyway, In Network streaming was fairly useless except if you are a young person who likes to watch stuff on a 10" screen with no real audio. Now when they did Out of Network streaming, that did impress me and I have used it on my IPAD when I am out of town and my Android sometimes in the casino.

They created OnePass, which was really neat ONLY if you have a streaming service such as Netflix, as I do, and I love this additional function.

WHAT ELSE??? NOT MUCH AND I KEEP TRACK OF EVERYTHING THEY DO.

What do they refuse to do? ANYTHING LOGICAL. THE LIST IS ENORMOUS!!


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

fcfc2 said:


> Hi,
> In response to the timeout feature on the minis...I think an option to disable the timeout would be rarely used on purpose. The reason you possibly didn't find any similar threads is because there is little if any significant interest in it. Further, if this "option" were accidentally enabled, it might well negatively impact people with a number of minis by unnecessarily removing tuners from the pool for recording on the DVR.
> I also suspect that besides the programming time and vastly complicating the software there is simply a limit to how much space is available for code and the more fixed features coverted to optional the more complicated the software. Feel free to add it in the suggestions but don't put any money on it's implementation.


Now finally I get to you, the only Negative Nancy in this thread so far. Before I start, I apologize for seeming to be nasty...

Are you a programmer? Because I have been in IT for over 25 years and have been a programmer, systems analyst, QA person, Project Manger, etc in the financial end of the business WHERE MISTAKES CANNOT BE MADE. What makes you think this would be hard to program? As it was stated by someone else, it did used to be 90 minutes and people obviously complained and they changed the VALUE. Yes it is a simple parameter in the code to change this.

If one cannot handle turning an option on of off, maybe they should not have a simple device like a Tivo or any other device that requires a brain to change options.

AVAILABLE SPACE FOR CODE??? That crazy comment cannot even be addressed...(there is no emoticon for what my brain is thinking now)...


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

http://www.tivo.com/assets/images/a.../TiVo_TCP_Network_Remote_Control_Protocol.pdf
http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10135329

If the Mini's only start timing from the last button press, than you just have to simulate some regular activity, to keep it from timing out.

If the Mini's timeout whether or not the user is active, it'll be more difficult.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

Now that I have addressed all who have graciously provided their input, I will finish my story.

I am a fairly GIGANTIC critic of Tivo Development in lala land in CA. They are complete hacks from the top management to project managers to the bottom of the food chain on many things. They charge us enormous amounts of money for their hardware and go on their merry ways of doing whatever they want, screwing everything up along the way. *I do love my Tivo *and I have Comcast and NEVER want an X1, as I have watched it go from a crazy 8 month disastrous rollout to what it is now, pretty but still dumb. I love all tuners buffering at once and I love the 2 sided guide and of course the enormous storage. I have a Roamio Pro that holds 450 hours of HD and have over 950 recording in it (yes, I like to keep things). They still only OFFICIALLY allow a 1TB expander and I would not touch that with a 10 foot pole because they are TOO LAZY to program it so that it WRITES COMPLETE recordings on one drive or the other. The way they do it, if you lose the expander, bye bye to all your precious recordings.

Oh, but I digress. The story is that i wrote "Margret" an email in July which "she" or her staff turned over to the support center in CO and I got to talk to one of the many "L2" people, of whom I have spoken to many in the past. Needless to say, he promised me to report a couple of things to L3 (in lala land if you need to know where that is) and of course they poo-pooed one issue, did not address another and generally were useless, as expected, and then the superiors of this L2 tech, in my mind, told him to kiss me off, in plain english, over a voicemail no less. So I responded to "Margret" with a VERY long email documenting all of this and asking "her" to explain what happened and how I was kissed off and also ERT (Exective Customer Support for those who do not know) whom I had a very good relationship with UNTIL they moved their best person to L2 and I could not communicate with her anymore, and they are not returning my calls for weeks. It took me over 2 hours to write this email (yes i am a bit fanatical over programming and design issues, as you can see by this post...LOL) which included references to dates and times of phone calls all at my disposal because my phone provider allows downloading of phone call info into spreadsheets (Phonepower.com if anyone is interested, an excellent internet phone provider out of CA) and also forwarded was the kissoff voicemail of the L2 tech, which I do not blame, I am sure his superiors or someone in L3 told him to say bye bye to me. I then got an email back from "Margret" quite immediately with 2 sentences in it. Here is what she said and I will paste it here:

*Hi Mr. Sterling,

I understand that there are behaviors of our product that you are unhappy with. However, I do not expect any of the specific items you have mentioned to change in the near-term.

Margret*

Was it really "her"? Such a good response from a VP of Design. Hmmm. But I am undaunted. I have had wars with Tivo before. Actually one of these "wars" resulted in them offering me to trade my XL4 for a Roamio Pro for only $199 plus warranty. SQUEAKY WHEELS GET THINGS DONE, as I have rolled over many people in my professional career. So now I am totally po'd and will be converting that email and responses into a word document and faxing it to Corporate as a complaint. Do you know where that fax will end up? I sure do because I did it a long time ago. IN THE SUPPORT CENTER IN THE HANDS OF ERT!!! Maybe they will call me back. I only ask for simple and logical changes. i have been thru the digital migration and have probably tried most DVR's since the mid to late 90's. They certainly have come a long way as broadband has (does anyone remember 3-way high speed internet where the download was thru the cable at a measly 512KB and the upload was from a 56K modem???). I think I am highly qualified to make simple and logical requests THAT CAN BE DONE EASILY. Actually I am contemplating a twitter war with them (maybe that is a pipedream because even though I have a twitter account, I do not really use it much except maybe sometimes making comments on #CSPANCHAT, another pet peeve of mine...POLITICS...DEM POLITICS...LOL).

*So there is the story so far, if anyone has gotten down here, thank you for reading my rant!!!*


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

*FINALLY, FOR ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THIS ISSUE:

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CREATE A "FEATURE REQUEST" (HA) BY GOING TO:

http://advisors.tivo.com/wix9/p2272893819.aspx

OR CALL TIVO SUPPORT AT 877-367-8486 AND TELL THE HORSES MOUTH (OR THE OTHER END...LOL!)

AND ASK THEM TO EITHER CHANGE THE TIMER TO 8-12 HOURS OR PUT AN OPTION IN IT TO TURN IT OFF. ALSO PLEASE ASK THEM TO NOT GO TO TIVO CENTRAL AT THE END OF A RECORDING THAT IS PLAYING, SINCE THAT IS ALSO AS ANNOYING AS THE INACTIVITY TIMER.

THANK YOU VERY MUCH...THE END.

PS, If anyone is interested, I will be 60 this year, retired/disabled in Florida, and I know plenty and have plenty of opinions...
*


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

telemark said:


> http://www.tivo.com/assets/images/a.../TiVo_TCP_Network_Remote_Control_Protocol.pdf
> http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10135329
> 
> If the Mini's only start timing from the last button press, than you just have to simulate some regular activity, to keep it from timing out.
> ...


Thank you kind sir, I will definitely investigate these links...:up:

*UPDATE: * WELL OF COURSE THEY HAVE DONE SOMETHING TO THE MINI...I installed TELNET on my W7 pc and my Android and was able to go into port 31339 of my ROAMIO PRO and the IRCODE command (used LIVETV) worked great thru the pc and the phone (phone just to test). Excellent. Unfortunately trying to connect to the stupid mini, it just sits there saying *CONNECTING TO (IP)...* I guess I am going to have to call stupid tech support in the morning and ask them. That's rich, they do not even know the value was changed to 4 hours, they still think it's 90 minutes.

Any suggestions before I WASTE MY TIME? *THANKS..*.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

My guess is that your campaign will not resolve your issue to your satisfaction. Unless they already planned for it to change, it would be a long road to updating in the code.

You have a few options right now, which you probably will not like. 

1) Switch the locations of the mini and the host. 2) Sell the Mini and get a used premiere with lifetime instead. 3) Use the android app for music instead- record a bunch and then let it play.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

samccfl99 said:


> Now finally I get to you, the only Negative Nancy in this thread so far. Before I start, I apologize for seeming to be nasty...
> 
> Are you a programmer? Because I have been in IT for over 25 years and have been a programmer, systems analyst, QA person, Project Manger, etc in the financial end of the business WHERE MISTAKES CANNOT BE MADE. What makes you think this would be hard to program? As it was stated by someone else, it did used to be 90 minutes and people obviously complained and they changed the VALUE. Yes it is a simple parameter in the code to change this.
> 
> ...


Hi,
Very sorry to be a "negative Nancy" or to possibly offend you in any way, if I did, I apologize for my ignorance. I am not a programmer and just have a layman's understanding of such things. My "space" issue is based on my understanding of the limits of some devices, routers for example which had different amounts of memory available for various firmwares etc. I have seen these comments for other types of devices also like media players. I have also often seen comments regarding the "bloating" of various software releases with newer versions and newer "features". 
Apparently from what you say I guess this "bloating" is simply the result of poorly written code and because this phenomenon is so common, I have to assume that the majority of programmers are not as skilled as you are.
I also made the assumption that the primary purpose of the Tivo was to act as a DVR and to that end, the more available tuners, the better to perform that primary function. The introduction of a "feature" to disable the mini's "tuner time out" would seam to work against the primary function of the DVR. However, if it is as easy to program a selectable and variable time out feature as you indicate, I think you have every right to complain. 
At any rate, you have my reasoning and apology, I hope you find a way to listen to your music all night long. Have a great day.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

fcfc2 said:


> Hi,
> Very sorry to be a "negative Nancy" or to possibly offend you in any way, if I did, I apologize for my ignorance. Have a great day.


And I also apologize to you for my little rant. It just sounded like you thought you knew about such things. See, I am really a nice guy. You have a great day too and enjoy your Tivo as I usually do...


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

jrtroo said:


> My guess is that your campaign will not resolve your issue to your satisfaction. Unless they already planned for it to change, it would be a long road to updating in the code.
> 
> You have a few options right now, which you probably will not like.
> 
> 1) Switch the locations of the mini and the host. 2) Sell the Mini and get a used premiere with lifetime instead. 3) Use the android app for music instead- record a bunch and then let it play.


Well thank you for that nice informative post. You probably are not the one who insists on good grammar, but I did try. Option one will not happen. Option 2 sounds interesting, wish I knew that. Of course when they gave me the great deal on the RP, they made me trade the XL4 in. I would think it belongs in a chipper it was so slow I could not even run it in HD mode. Option 3 sounds interesting, I did not know that, I will have to investigate it.

I did try to Telnet into the Mini and it would not respond to the open command. The RP did just fine. It opened and I sent it the IRCODE LIVETV command it it changed the tuner on that. Very neat. Of course as I said, the Mini did not even respond to the open command. So I just got off the phone with an L2 agent, who obviously knows me and I know him and he asked an "engineer" there in the support center in CO and they were not sure. So he is going to open a case to L3, those people in lala land in CA, to ask them if that port can be opened on the mini and also if they can change the value from 4 hours to 8. THEY NEED TO DO SOMETHING. HA. I KNOW HOW THAT WORKS...LOL.

So there you have it. If you would like to respond with some info on option 3, that would be nice if you have the time. Again thank you for the reply. *Have a great day!*


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## L David Matheny (Jan 29, 2011)

fcfc2 said:


> My "space" issue is based on my understanding of the limits of some devices, routers for example which had different amounts of memory available for various firmwares etc. I have seen these comments for other types of devices also like media players. I have also often seen comments regarding the "bloating" of various software releases with newer versions and newer "features".
> Apparently from what you say I guess this "bloating" is simply the result of poorly written code and because this phenomenon is so common, I have to assume that the majority of programmers are not as skilled as you are.


Memory space for code shouldn't be an issue these days, although TiVo does seem to be very conservative when designing their hardware. But the potential utility of any new feature must be weighed against the added complexity and the resulting software bugs and increased maintenance costs.



fcfc2 said:


> I also made the assumption that the primary purpose of the Tivo was to act as a DVR and to that end, the more available tuners, the better to perform that primary function. The introduction of a "feature" to disable the mini's "tuner time out" would seam to work against the primary function of the DVR. However, if it is as easy to program a selectable and variable time out feature as you indicate, I think you have every right to complain.


If good programming practices were followed, it might be fairly simple to allow changing of the timeout interval, with the hardest part probably being the new menu options. But tuner availability is really an issue only when tuners are needed. Since the Mini and its host are surely in constant contact when the Mini is being used, why wouldn't it be possible to release the Mini's live tuner only when the host actually asks for it? And since the Mini can already ask the user to release it when the host needs it anyway (right?), allowing the timeout to be disabled shouldn't result in missed recordings. TiVo might also be concerned about energy use, but isn't the Mini almost as big a power hog when in standby as when active?


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

jrtroo said:


> My guess is that your campaign will not resolve your issue to your satisfaction.


Ya think?!?


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

telemark said:


> http://www.tivo.com/assets/images/a.../TiVo_TCP_Network_Remote_Control_Protocol.pdf
> http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10135329
> 
> If the Mini's only start timing from the last button press, than you just have to simulate some regular activity, to keep it from timing out.
> ...


So I do have an update on this and some people might be interested even though it seems no one else is posting in this thread.

I was able to get to my Roamio Pro using Telnet, but I could not get to the mini. So I called useless L1 tech support and after the second one who did not even know about this TIVO PROCEDURE, I had to ask for a supervisor and one that I knew picked up the call and he was L2. He did not know why I could not connect to the mini and he asked an "engineer" (in CO..HA) and they were not sure. He told me he would escalate this case and many of them there in the support center thinks it is crazy the timeout value was only changed to 4 hours. We shall see, although the "escalated status" is gone (surprise), I think they might be changing the timeout value, when, who the heck knows.

But regarding getting to the mini thru tcp port 31339, I found out that it MUST either be playing a recording or in Live TV mode to connect. It does not work when it is in Tivo Central probably because when you go there, it disconnects the tuner from the DVR, contrary to what the dumb dumbs in L1 say. Then it worked fine. After much research and playing, I created a WSF file, which is like a VBS, but this works and it executes Telnet and opens the port and executes the command. I am going to post it here. The only thing I have to do is figure out how to make it run at certain times and I had alot of things going today and I am dead tired. But this script will work from a windows pc within your local network and also your phone if it has Telnet and connected to your network (well not this script though). All this script does is simulate the pressing of the Live TV button which will refresh the timer for another 4 hours.

SO HERE IT IS AND REPLACE THE X'S WITH THE IP OF THE DEVICE YOU WANT TO RUN IT ON AND MAKE SURE IF YOU USE NOTEPAD OR WHATEVER THE FILE MUST BE A WFS, AS MINE IS *SENDIRCODE.WFS*:

*
<job>

</job>
*

This will now wait 3.5 hours and then execute the Live TV command so you can get 7.5 hours of sound. All you will have to do is run the script before you go to bed and you WILL wake up to sound, if that is your preference, and there are many out there who want this!!! :up::up:

*PS, I should mention i tested this on Windows 7, but it will probably work on any version. Also you need to go into Control Panel/Programs and Features and go into the Windows portion and activate the Telnet Client if you have not done that. Oh and also the quit command does not work currently and leaves the CMD window open so right now it will only execute one. I will be working on it. In the meantime, remember to go to the feature request screen I posted earlier or call, anything might help those helpless idiots in L3 lala land to do something they absolutely refuse to do, because the think they are KING $H*T OUT THERE (ok, I have to be a bit nasty because I really do hate them and their dumb decisions, SORRY?)...*


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

I could program a 115VAC solenoid with a inexpensive timer to hit a Mini remote button say every 3 hours, problem solved without having to leave a computer running, or running any computer code.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

lessd said:


> I could program a 115VAC solenoid with a inexpensive timer to hit a Mini remote button say every 3 hours, problem solved without having to leave a computer running, or running any computer code.


Well this worked for me and I do thank the person who told me about this protocol.

YOU CANNOT REALLY PLEASE ANYONE IN TIVOCOMMUNITY.COM...STILL.

Who turns their computer off anyway??? Whatever, thanks for the comment.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

L David Matheny said:


> TiVo might also be concerned about energy use, but isn't the Mini almost as big a power hog when in standby as when active?


I really do not understand all the talk all the time about power consumption, and what is that the business of Tivo? You do know that most electric costs are caused by your AC/Heat, water heater and electric dryer and stove, if you have that, the rest to me makes no difference. We have to pay for electric anyway. It's really just part of living. Just sayin'.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

> Originally Posted by jrtroo
> My guess is that your campaign will not resolve your issue to your satisfaction.


Do *THEY EVER REALLY* resolve or solve anything???? *NO!*



krkaufman said:


> Ya think?!?


Gee, I am wondering if any of you have had any callbacks from L2 support or even had any cases sent to L3 (mostly to no avail I will admit, but occasionally)? I cannot even count the number of times I have been called back.

Well I have found out my info here and that is what I came for and I appreciate it and I will be leaving now to return in many weeks or months if I need to. The attitude of *some* people on here really irks me. Getting nasty here as usual. Nothing has changed. Not particularly referring to you KrK.... TOODLES


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## wizwor (Dec 18, 2013)

samccfl99 said:


> FOR ANYONE WHO CARES ABOUT THIS ISSUE:
> 
> PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CREATE A "FEATURE REQUEST" (HA) BY GOING TO:
> 
> http://advisors.tivo.com/wix9/p2272893819.aspx


I was going to suggest the same thing. While you are at it, please request that entering a channel on the remote take you directly to the .1 subchannel. I hate that I have to up channel to the main channel after entering the channel number on the remote.


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

wizwor said:


> I was going to suggest the same thing. While you are at it, please request that entering a channel on the remote take you directly to the .1 subchannel. I hate that I have to up channel to the main channel after entering the channel number on the remote.


Well still here. I do not understand this subchannel stuff. can you explain it?


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

Antenna users get all channels as subchannels.
2.1, 2.2, 2.3...

The first one is usually the HDTV stream and the others SD junk.

To tune on a Tivo, you have to enter 3-4 buttons. 2, -, 1, Enter
On nicer TV's, you just enter "2"


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## samccfl99 (Sep 7, 2013)

telemark said:


> Antenna users get all channels as subchannels.
> 2.1, 2.2, 2.3...
> 
> The first one is usually the HDTV stream and the others SD junk.
> ...


Antenna, eh? OK, have not used that since 1972 when cable first came out, no wonder I did not know what you were talking about. You do save a lot of money that way for sure....Not for me though or hardly anyone I know, but I understand. The cable/internet/phone bill is NUTS!!! Thanks for the lesson.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

samccfl99 said:


> Who turns their computer off anyway??? Whatever, thanks for the comment.


I do, I put my computer to sleep, but that does turn off the hard drives, I have 3 SSD one 4Tb normal HD. Been doing this forever, never had any problems.


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## HarperVision (May 14, 2007)

fcfc2 said:


> Hi, Very sorry to be a "negative Nancy" or to possibly offend you in any way, if I did, I apologize for my ignorance. I am not a programmer and just have a layman's understanding of such things. My "space" issue is based on my understanding of the limits of some devices, routers for example which had different amounts of memory available for various firmwares etc. I have seen these comments for other types of devices also like media players. I have also often seen comments regarding the "bloating" of various software releases with newer versions and newer "features". Apparently from what you say I guess this "bloating" is simply the result of poorly written code and because this phenomenon is so common, I have to assume that the majority of programmers are not as skilled as you are. I also made the assumption that the primary purpose of the Tivo was to act as a DVR and to that end, the more available tuners, the better to perform that primary function. The introduction of a "feature" to disable the mini's "tuner time out" would seam to work against the primary function of the DVR. However, if it is as easy to program a selectable and variable time out feature as you indicate, I think you have every right to complain. At any rate, you have my reasoning and apology, I hope you find a way to listen to your music all night long. Have a great day.





samccfl99 said:


> And I also apologize to you for my little rant. It just sounded like you thought you knew about such things. See, I am really a nice guy. You have a great day too and enjoy your Tivo as I usually do...


Me thinks sarcasm detection may not be his strong suit.


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## 172pilot (Jan 8, 2004)

tarheelblue32 said:


> As far as the timeout ....it's not really the most important feature that I wish TiVo would add.


True, but it's also not the hardest feature to add.. It's really a stupid thing NOT to have.. Would you accept it if Microsoft removed the adjustment for the timeout of the screensaver on windows, and arbitrarily set it to 4 hours? It would be laughably ridiculous.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

172pilot said:


> True, but it's also not the hardest feature to add.. It's really a stupid thing NOT to have.. Would you accept it if Microsoft removed the adjustment for the timeout of the screensaver on windows, and arbitrarily set it to 4 hours? It would be laughably ridiculous.


This forces me to use a Roamio in the kitchen and bedroom as my wife likes the unit on all day and night. How about 12 hours fixed.


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## Cori (Jan 27, 2005)

I have not posted in a very long time but wanted to post my .02 cents. I just purchased my mini from tivo a few weeks ago. I absolutely detest this timeout. As one who much prefers to have my tv on all night with sound I am considering sending it back in favor of another roamio. The mini would be perfect for my master bedroom if it was not for that one flaw. I have used the link for feature request and also called Tivo. Sadly I don't think there are many of us that want this changed. 

Before anyone comments please note that I too am female and after years of my hubby working nights I depend on having the light and low volume coming from the tv at night so I can fall asleep without jumping at every little sound I hear when I am alone.

I sincerely hope Tivo gives us an option to turn this feature off. I am more than willing to dedicate one tuner to the task. Afterall, this is our equipment and we should be able to control our devices. Thanks all.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

samccfl99 said:


> So I do have an update on this and some people might be interested even though it seems no one else is posting in this thread.
> 
> I was able to get to my Roamio Pro using Telnet, but I could not get to the mini. So I called useless L1 tech support and after the second one who did not even know about this TIVO PROCEDURE, I had to ask for a supervisor and one that I knew picked up the call and he was L2. He did not know why I could not connect to the mini and he asked an "engineer" (in CO..HA) and they were not sure. He told me he would escalate this case and many of them there in the support center thinks it is crazy the timeout value was only changed to 4 hours. We shall see, although the "escalated status" is gone (surprise), I think they might be changing the timeout value, when, who the heck knows.
> 
> ...





lessd said:


> I could program a 115VAC solenoid with a inexpensive timer to hit a Mini remote button say every 3 hours, problem solved without having to leave a computer running, or running any computer code.


One of the more interesting threads here ---- two posters provided innovative solutions, one of which is actually practical (sorry lessd, yours is not that one).


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## Cori (Jan 27, 2005)

Has anyone managed to get this telnet script working in Win 10? I've tried in Win 10 and despite giving it the correct ip address for my mini, it can't seem to locate it. I would greatly appreciate any help you guys offered. Thanks for the script and for your help.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

If TiVo does not want to make this time out an option how about 12 hours, as that would solve most if not all problems from this time out.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Has anyone with an Amazon Echo asked Alexa if she could help?


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## CinciDVR (May 24, 2014)

Cori said:


> Has anyone managed to get this telnet script working in Win 10? I've tried in Win 10 and despite giving it the correct ip address for my mini, it can't seem to locate it. I would greatly appreciate any help you guys offered. Thanks for the script and for your help.


I couldn't get the script to run as a WFS file, so I stripped out the first two and last two lines and saved it as a VBS file and then it ran. However, it wouldn't connect to my mini the first time I ran it. I had to go into Settings & Messages -> Settings -> Remote & Devices -> Network Remote Control and then select "Allow network-based remote controls". After that it works like a champ. Strangely enough, unlike the OP, it works whether my mini is in Tivo Central or on Live TV.


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## telemark (Nov 12, 2013)

CinciDVR said:


> it works whether my mini is in Tivo Central or on Live TV.


"_whether_" on TivoCentral and LiveTV?
or
"_only_" on TivoCentral and LiveTV?


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## CinciDVR (May 24, 2014)

telemark said:


> "_whether_" on TivoCentral and LiveTV?
> or
> "_only_" on TivoCentral and LiveTV?


Those are the only two "screens" I tried it from. I just tried it from the "My Shows" screen and it also worked. So I'm going to assume it will work from any screen.


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## Cori (Jan 27, 2005)

CinciDVR said:


> I couldn't get the script to run as a WFS file, so I stripped out the first two and last two lines and saved it as a VBS file and then it ran. However, it wouldn't connect to my mini the first time I ran it. I had to go into Settings & Messages -> Settings -> Remote & Devices -> Network Remote Control and then select "Allow network-based remote controls". After that it works like a champ. Strangely enough, unlike the OP, it works whether my mini is in Tivo Central or on Live TV.


Thanks so much. I will give this a try and see what happens.


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## bfwk122 (Jul 2, 2006)

Who turns their computer off anyway??? Whatever, thanks for the comment.[/QUOTE]

Who turns off there computer? The people that had them go on fire and destroy there home due to defective power supply. Yep that's them...


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

bfwk122 said:


> Who turns their computer off anyway??? Whatever, thanks for the comment.[/Q
> 
> Who turns off there computer? The people that had them go on fire and destroy there home due to defective power supply. Yep that's them...


if the Power Supply was defective, then I'm not sure if turning off the PC would have made any difference.
Pulling the power cable though...


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Why doesn't TiVo fix this (that is: make the delay 8 hours or make it adjustable)?

Thanks to samccfl99 (also known as "Mr. Shouts-a-lot" ) for the workaround script. But I don't like keeping my desktop PC running all night just to send a couple of telnet strings. I'm thinking about getting a Rasberry Pi and programming it to do this. (I have additional reasons for getting one.)


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Since raspberry pi NOOB software includes python I created and tested a python version of samccfl99's script on my desktop PC. I used this post by telemark as my starting point:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10371394#post10371394

FWIW, here it is:

```
#!/usr/bin/env python
import socket
import time

# Add IP's for more than one mini here if desired, comma-separated
hosts = [
  "xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx"
]
port = 31339

print "Starting"
time.sleep(12600) # in seconds -- 3.5 hrs
 
for ip in hosts:
  print("IP: %s" % ip)
  s = socket.socket()
  s.connect((ip, port))

  time.sleep(2) 
  s.sendall("IRCODE GUIDE\r")


  time.sleep(2) 
  s.sendall("IRCODE LIVETV\r")
  time.sleep(5)
 
  s.close()

print "Done"
```
Note:  Python 2.7 was used. Not sure if it is correct for 3.x


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Follow up: I have the python script running on Raspberry Pi now, with no modifications required. Now I have a device that only draws about 3 Watts that I can leave on all night to keep my mini from dropping its tuner. (Not that that is the only use for the Pi.)


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