# TiVo Mini & Roamio OTA DVR V70 Connection Problems



## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

I recently upgraded from a Premiere XL to a Roamio OTA (Lifetime/All-In) in our living room. I love the DVR, I reverted to the old UI. I also have an A93 TiVo Mini box in our bedroom. Everything is hard-wired, gigabit ethernet.

At first the Mini saw the Roamio with no issue, however I could only stream live TV. If I tried to select a recorded program from the host DVR it would not even present a "play" option. If I hit play on the remote I received an authorization error (error # V125).

In the diagnostics section of the Mini the TivoToGo shows the permissions as "a,a,i,a" which I think might be part of the issue.

I got my TiVo support case escalated to executive support who after several days came up with the solution of removing the "Video sharing" authorization for an hour and then re-adding it back on.

After doing so, I've now lost all functionality with the Mini. It can no longer see the Roamio. Tried a "Clear and Delete Everything" and I now receive a V70 error through the guided setup and cannot proceed any further. My only options are to power cycle the Mini and keep trying unsuccessfully.

I had already disabled all IGMP snooping on my two switches, the DVRs have static IPs assigned by the router and nothing on my network has changed since the TiVo rep turned off Video Sharing. So I suspect it is a technical issue on their end?

This issue has being going on for almost two weeks now, and I'm just considering throwing in the towel and purchasing a TiVo Mini Vox just to test it and rule out any internal network issues. Can the new Mini work on the old UI or does it force an upgrade? Also any other things I might be overlooking as far as troubleshooting the connection issue?

Thank you in advance for any advice!


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dleclair said:


> Everything is hard-wired, gigabit ethernet.
> In the diagnostics section of the Mini the TivoToGo shows the permissions as "a,a,i,a" which I think might be part of the issue.
> Thank you in advance for any advice!


Two things. The A93 is only 100Mbps Ethernet. Second: the usual Mini TTG should be i,a,i,a, and only "Preferences", "Video Sharing" is an active option for the host.

Yes, the A95 (Mini Vox) does work after connecting and allowing it to rollback to TE3. Your A93 remote probably not pair to it in RF mode but will work in IR mode.

BTW, your "waiting for an hour" is BS. Force a service connection to have it change. It may also change with a simple Internet Diagnostics under Networking. I'll speculate that the A93 Mini is mis-configured in your account. But you can't fix that.

Just in case, I would compare IP addresses between your host and Mini. Only the last octet should be different.


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

JoeKustra said:


> I'll speculate that the A93 Mini is mis-configured in your account. But you can't fix that.
> View attachment 44769


Thank you for the reply and info! I think you are exactly right. In desperation I again spun the TiVo customer service roulette wheel and luckily got a technically capable agent. She seemed to say the group settings for my TiVo Mini were misconfigured and that she'd have to escalate it to the backoffice technical team. Hopefully it isn't just another false hope and that they are able to resolve it. It just makes me think of all the hours I've wasted on the phone going through force connection and unplug rituals to have it be their issue.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

dleclair said:


> Thank you for the reply and info! I think you are exactly right. In desperation I again spun the TiVo customer service roulette wheel and luckily got a technically capable agent. She seemed to say the group settings for my TiVo Mini were misconfigured and that she'd have to escalate it to the backoffice technical team. Hopefully it isn't just another false hope and that they are able to resolve it. It just makes me think of all the hours I've wasted on the phone going through force connection and unplug rituals to have it be their issue.


I wish I could say I never heard of this before. But that's just a wish.


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

So just out of curiosity and for the interim I picked up a TiVo Mini Vox this afternoon. Absolutely no issues setting it up, other than the mandatory update/guided set up. Connected to my Roamio straight away. So that narrows it down to either a defective TiVo Mini or bad settings on their end and not any of my network setup.


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

Thank you to everyone for the input and advice. So after 48 more minutes this morning on the line with elevated support (they relayed info to engineering), as I suspected, it was indeed the Tivo To Go permissions preventing the box from being authorized. The old Mini was configured as "a,a,i,a", after they changed it to "i,i,a,a" the Mini immediately saw the host DVR, and live TV and prerecorded playback are both available. So if anyone is having V70 or playback errors, I would recommend checking the Tivo To Go permissions on the System Information diagnostics screen.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

How does one find and change these settings? I just got a brand new Edge and Mini Voxes and none of them can see the main DVR. In fact I can't get the TiVo app to do streaming either (iPhone or iPad). Nobody at TiVo has any clue how to solve this (it's not a networking issue) and they have resorted to sending me a brand new Edge DVR.

Everything I see says it's an account level problem, but nobody is able to fix it. Any idea who I can talk to over there to actually resolve it? Any idea what I can ask them to change on their end in relation to streaming to get it to work?


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

Kendall Bennett said:


> How does one find and change these settings? I just got a brand new Edge and Mini Voxes and none of them can see the main DVR. In fact I can't get the TiVo app to do streaming either (iPhone or iPad). Nobody at TiVo has any clue how to solve this (it's not a networking issue) and they have resorted to sending me a brand new Edge DVR.
> 
> Everything I see says it's an account level problem, but nobody is able to fix it. Any idea who I can talk to over there to actually resolve it? Any idea what I can ask them to change on their end in relation to streaming to get it to work?


Just to eliminate the obvious -- have you already activated the Tivo Minis on Tivo's site? Were they used or new? Can you see them on your account page? And what is the particular error code or message you receive (and in what part of the process)?

Make sure the Video Transfer is enabled on for your Edge on the site as well.

As far as network equipment if you have any managed switches (and check your router as well) you will want to disable the IGMP snooping option if you have it.

Another thing you can do is go to your router and assign each device a static IP address. Go through each devices network settings setup and ensure they are configured for static IP, and that the address matches what you reserved.

If you go to the Help menu on your Edge box, and select Troubleshooting / Whole Network, you should be able to get a better idea of what your DVR can see and usually the error code for the Mini box on why it can't connect.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

dleclair said:


> Just to eliminate the obvious -- have you already activated the Tivo Minis on Tivo's site? Were they used or new? Can you see them on your account page? And what is the particular error code or message you receive (and in what part of the process)?
> 
> Make sure the Video Transfer is enabled on for your Edge on the site as well.
> 
> ...


Yeah, all the devices are brand new. Got them from Best Buy 2 weeks ago. And yes, all the mini devices are activated and they are visible in my account. Video transfer is enabled on the edge and on the site. Been around and around with TiVo support every day this past week doing all the usual troubleshooting.

My switch is a dumb switch (I will double check it to be sure) and while the router does block ICMP snooping, I turned that off for laughs but no impact. All my device on the internal network are able to ping each other.

Here is a link to a screen shot showing that the devices can see each other, but it's reporting an account level problem. The other two mini devices are all unplugged (but they did not work either).

iCloud


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Living Room
XXXX
TiVo EDGE Cable 2TB
12/13/2019 Service Only, Annual N/A Make any changes to your service plan within 30 days of activation or after your commitment is fulfilled.
Change this current plan
Cancel Service
Theater Room
XXXX
TiVo Mini VOX
Add extended warranty 12/13/2019 TiVo Mini Service Only, Product Lifetime N/A No other service plans are available for this device Cancel Service
Master Bedroom
XXXX
TiVo Mini VOX
Add extended warranty 12/13/2019 TiVo Mini Service Only, Product Lifetime N/A No other service plans are available for this device Cancel Service
Workout Room
XXXX
TiVo Mini VOX
Add extended warranty 12/13/2019 TiVo Mini Service Only, Product Lifetime N/A No other service plans are available for this device Cancel Service


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Here is a link to a screen shot showing that the devices can see each other, but it's reporting an account level problem.


I had exactly the same issue, if you go to your System Diagnostics screen (should be located at MENU > HELP > ACCOUNT & SYSTEM INFO), doublecheck your TivoToGo permissions. Mine were set incorrectly and the "Engineering Team" had to fix it. Ask to have your case escalated.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Right thanks! Now I can see that it is set to a,i,a,a which according to others above is wrong. I will call them now. I have asked them up and down if something needs to be changed in my config and they have no clue. Thanks!!


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Any idea what the correct setting should be for Comcast/Xfinity?


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

I swear I keep getting the same lady on the phone and she is clueless. She just tried to tell me that the TiVoToGo settings are not related to streaming on TiVo mini devices. No matter how many times I ask to have my case escalated I get punted back to first level support. They literally took my escalated case and emailed me back earlier in the week with the same mindless reboot steps (with two connections to TiVo service, like doing it twice is going to change anything).

She just wants to send me a new edge DVR, which will have the exact same issue if it shows up using the same account settings as this one (which she says is the default). Others in other threads says the a means allowed, so it would seem its the second i that’s causing the problem. Does anyone know what the four values means?

Anyway how do I convince them to get me to engineering so someone can actually fix it? I am about ready to get in the car on Monday and drive down to San Jose and chew them out in person at the head office.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Well she finally escalated my case. After being on hold for 20 mins she finally says it should be a,a,a,a but apparently it takes 2-3 business days for someone to hit a few keys and fix this? Sheesh.

I hope this time when they escalate it, it will be fixed and not get punted back to me with the same mindless reboot and connect steps.


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

Kendall Bennett said:


> She just wants to send me a new edge DVR, which will have the exact same issue if it shows up using the same account settings as this one (which she says is the default). Others in other threads says the a means allowed, so it would seem its the second i that's causing the problem. Does anyone know what the four values means?


They sent me a refurbished TiVo Mini that also didn't work for my issue, felt bad they wasted their time and shipping money, but I was willing to try anything they thought would rectify the issue.

To my knowledge the Tivo To Go permissions control the ability to utilize multiroom viewing and downloading programs (my assumption is a=active, i=inactive). There was a post where someone broke down what each letter signified, but I can't find it right now.

They said the configuration group was wrong for my unit, whatever that meant, and after a few forced connections those permissions updated and then everything worked.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Does anyone know what the four values means?


The second pair are no longer used. On a Mini they should always show i,a. Note, they still may have an effect with FTP transfers, but I can't test that. They are left over from the days when you could block downloads from Amazon.

The first pair control whether you can transfer a program between TiVo boxes over your network. You can affect them in you account under Device Preferences. The same place where it has the (obsolete) option to download programs. A Mini should always be i,a. You can make the host i,a by unchecking the box for file sharing and performing a service connection OR a network diagnostic since both access your account. Notice that a Mini has that box as N/A since you can't stop a Mini from watching a program on its host. Not being able to use a host is an authorization issue only TiVo can fix once you find the right person.

And now that I have explained all that, forget you saw it. It all pertains to TE3. The problem (a,i for the first pair) can only be fixed by TiVo.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

This is getting a bit ridiculous. I got punted back to first level support and they wanted to me to do the 'reconnect two times' crap all over again. So I did. Oddly it failed the same way, like somehow they figured something would change when THEY HAVE NOT CHANGED ANYTHING? Isn't the definition of insanity, doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result?

I actually had to point the 'tech supervisor' to this forum thread as they keep trying to tell me it's a networking issue. They want me to bypass my switch because. Conversation is something like this:

_Me: It's hooked up to my switch
Them: Gasp. You have a switch!? Oohhhh. We don't recommend third party equipment so please try bypassing the switch and plugging directly into the router
Me: Wait, what? You realize the ports on the back of the router *are* a switch?
Them: Bypassing the switch is what we need to try
Me: I can't bypass the switch. My house has a 24 port switch which goes into the router in my upstairs room (server closet is downstairs).
Me: Besides, whoever told you that bypassing a switch is pulling wool over your eyes
Them: No, I disagree. We have lots of customers who solve their problems by bypassing the switch.
Me: Shakes head. I dunno what kind of 'switch' these customers bypassed_

I just can't fathom this is part of their support strategy. They are so compartmentalized that literally the people I can get on the phone and even the people I can finally get to call me back, literally can't do anything. None of them have the ability to edit this field (honestly I don't think they even know what it is). I sent them screenshots of the errors and the support staff can't actually view the screenshots. Someone else can and tell them whats in it but they apparently can't view it? WTF.

So at this point I had to re-escalate my case again as they keep coming back and saying they are convinced it's a networking issue. Which is ridiculous as the two devices can see each other just fine, and they can all talk to the TiVo service just fine. I mean come on. If your hardware is so janky that somehow a regular old TP-Link 24-port gigabit switch is going to interfere with how their hardware devices can talk to each other, something is seriously wrong with their hardware. But that's all beside the point, as it's not a networking issue.

So at this point it's another 3-5 business days for my 'escalated' case to somehow get someone to look at it again. I just can't fathom why someone over there can't just 'hit the a key' and see if it fixes it?

Anyone got any suggestions on how to escalate this beyond first level support as there are literally no other phone numbers. I called the head office in San Jose and left a message, but of course nobody returned my call.


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## DeltaOne (Sep 29, 2013)

Kendall Bennett said:


> _Them: Gasp. You have a switch!? Oohhhh. We don't recommend third party equipment so please try bypassing the switch and plugging directly into the router._


I don't think it's reasonable to expect TiVo to help trouble-shoot third party equipment. The trick is...you just don't tell them about it. Say okay, put the phone down for 60 seconds, come back and tell them "Okay, I bypassed the switch."

BTW, switches do fail. Just yesterday I had a Netgear 8-port switch on my home network fail. I think it was about eight years old.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

DeltaOne said:


> I don't think it's reasonable to expect TiVo to help trouble-shoot third party equipment. The trick is...you just don't tell them about it. Say okay, put the phone down for 60 seconds, come back and tell them "Okay, I bypassed the switch."
> 
> BTW, switches do fail. Just yesterday I had a Netgear 8-port switch on my home network fail. I think it was about eight years old.


Sure, switches fail. That's the most likely scenario that they 'documented' where it fixed their issue, but if the switch is dead then nothing is going to work and the TiVo would not be able to phone home either.

My mistake was telling them I had a switch at all in the first place. Should have just said it was all hooked into the back of the router (all 24 of my house connections, connected to the 3 ports in the back of the router  ).


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## dleclair (Feb 16, 2018)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Sure, switches fail. That's the most likely scenario that they 'documented' where it fixed their issue, but if the switch is dead then nothing is going to work and the TiVo would not be able to phone home either.
> 
> My mistake was telling them I had a switch at all in the first place. Should have just said it was all hooked into the back of the router (all 24 of my house connections, connected to the 3 ports in the back of the router  ).


First level support only has a limited range of basic fixes available to them ("did you try turning it off and on"?), and anything regarding account permissions they have to escalate to the technical team. Be clear, concise and persistent. I found a little friendliness goes a long way, even if you feel like your patience is being tested.

Explain you noticed on the diagnostic screen your group permissions/settings are incorrect and that it is an issue on their side. I wouldn't even mention any of your network setup if you've already double checked everything on your end.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

dleclair said:


> First level support only has a limited range of basic fixes available to them ("did you try turning it off and on"?), and anything regarding account permissions they have to escalate to the technical team. Be clear, concise and persistent. I found a little friendliness goes a long way, even if you feel like your patience is being tested.
> 
> Explain you noticed on the diagnostic screen your group permissions/settings are incorrect and that it is an issue on their side. I wouldn't even mention any of your network setup if you've already double checked everything on your end.


Right, but I finally got a call back from the 'technical supervisor', and he apparently was not able to do it either and had to re-escalate my ticket. So back and square one at the moment.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

dleclair said:


> First level support only has a limited range of basic fixes available to them ("did you try turning it off and on"?), and anything regarding account permissions they have to escalate to the technical team. Be clear, concise and persistent. I found a little friendliness goes a long way, even if you feel like your patience is being tested.


Finally got a call back from second level support and they kept insisting that I bypass the switch, saying a,i,a,a is the correct setting for the TiVo Edge. Their support is so compartmentalized that each person is stuck in a cage and can't do anything but one thing. I got super mad with the guy on the end and he then said he would have engineering call me back (they don't normally take phone calls). Instead I got a call from another 'technical supervisor' pretending to be an engineer (but he finally fessed up when stuff did not work).

They also said this thread is not relevant as it is a year old. LOL. I don't think their 'engineering' staff actually looked past the first message in the thread? Do they even know how forums work? I hope you guys are reading this.

So anyway this time I remained calm and we went through all the same silly steps over again. I shut off the firewall on my router to convince them no ports were being blocked (the 'technical supervisor' has to actually ask someone else if shutting off the firewall would unblock the ports?). This guy had the bright idea of trying to plug in the theater room mini directly into my router (since it's in the same room), but no dice. Then he had the bright idea of connecting the TiVo Edge to WiFi as then we could guarantee that the switch was not in play at all, as the Mini was now jacked into the back of the router. Wish I had thought of that a week ago when everyone was insisting on me bypassing the switch.

And guess what? No dice. Same error.

Nobody over there is even willing to *try* flipping the i to an a in the TiVoToGo settings. But at least now we have finally proven without a shadow of a doubt that the *switch* is not the problem. It never was.

As I have pointed out to them over and over and over again since I first got the device, in the TiVo Boxes screen on the TiVo Edge, it says there is an account level problem (Error V406) preventing the mini from being able to stream. So that's either the TiVoToGo settings, or if a,i,a,a really is the correct setting on the TiVo, something else is completely messed up with my account (but I already had them make me a new account and transfer all my devices to it!)

Anyone else had the V406 errors? You think it's possible it's not the TiVoToGo permissions and something else?


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

No mentions of that error anywhere on this forum. Google found this. It confirms an account problem:

Solved: Does Comcast/XFinity block streaming via Minis? - Xfinity Help and Support Forums - 3292217

I know you've gone through a lot, but one thing I would do. Create an account. Clear (on TiVo.com) the EDGE from the old account. Then add the Edge (only) to the new account. Check TTG. The EDGE must have a,a,a,a. Then add the Mini which must have i,a,i,a or you might as well box it all up and send it back. But don't take just my opinion. I've been wrong before.

Don't forget a service connection (maybe two) is needed to sync the devices with TiVo's computers.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Lol that second thread was me posting on Xfinity forums wondering if something from Comcast blocks it. They said no. 

I already created a brand new account and moved all my devices over to it but they did all of them at once so the problem just followed me.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Lol that second thread was me posting on Xfinity forums wondering if something from Comcast blocks it. They said no.
> I already created a brand new account and moved all my devices over to it but they did all of them at once so the problem just followed me.


You are under 30 days? If so, send it back. Maybe just the EDGE. Then buy a new one. 

Speculation: perhaps the bad TTG is tied to the TSN.


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

About a month and a half ago I got an edge and then when i got the cable card about a month ago i got 2 mini's from best buy and had all sorts of issues. I never was not able to connect to the DVR or apps entirely, but they would freak out constantly and stop working.

I can confirm that my Edge is a,i,a,a and from the mini 4k says it serves tuner,recording. My minis are i,a,i,a. I did at least one clear data and reset on one mini because tivo+ was jacked up. Before setting dhcp reservations at least one mini would take about 5+ minutes to connect to the DVR and another 10-15 minimum to have apps like netflix work. Then they would randomly stop. Now everything is pretty rock solid.

I could normally get the minis to connect to the DVR after doing a phone home, which would hang for 5ish minutes before moving forward. I have one mini connected to a netgear EX8000 extender that was a little tricky because it does some MAC spoofing and then my Edge plugged into a 12 port switch(trendnet) which is connected to my router(netgear XR450) and the other mini is connected to the router. Like you when i was having issues it didn't really matter what was connected where, the wireless extender seemed the most problematic spot.

So the only things I did that I think could do much at all are DHCP reservations on all Tivo equipment and clear and reset to defaults on my minis. I was one step away from trying to do MOCA everywhere and run a coax upstairs into my bedroom when the DHCP reservation step worked for me. If you have done that, or it doesn't work it could be something weird with that Edge, but my system was at least unstable out of the box over ethernet with your settings. I don't know what a,a,a,a does but I don't have any other Tivo's in the house and TTG transfers to PC crash the Edge anyway so if the second a is that it wouldn't help much anyway.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Yeah I have seriously thought about setting up Moca. I think the Comcast router actually has it built in, but I have that thing running in bridge mode so it's not doing Moca at the moment. I still have the DirecTV Moca device that I pulled off when I sent that stuff back so maybe I will try that if nobody can figure it out.

But honestly if it's some kind of whacky networking issue and not some account switch they have to flip, I might as well return it all for a refund because not one single other item in my house has issues. Comcast X1 and all their minis worked great, DirecTV worked great (over their Moca I guess), all my Apple TV's, Roku's, iPad's, iPhones, laptops. None of it has networking problems. So if there is a networking issue, then I think TiVo's hardware is totally borked.

But I just can't fathom it's that bad because the TiVo itself is awesome. It has to be some kind of account/configuration problem on the device(s).

They did say they sent me a new Edge device a week or so back, but nothing ever showed up so not sure what happened there. Guess next time I speak to them I will ask them what happened to the replacement. My gut tells me that after I get the replacement, wrestle with Comcast for 2 days to get the silly cablecard to work, the new one will do the same thing as the old one .

But at least at this point I am finally past the 'bypass the switch' issue. We have done that and proved it did nothing to fix it so hopefully their real engineering folks will take a closer look at it. I really wish I could actually speak to someone who is actually an engineer over there, because I am a software engineer myself so I know this stuff inside and out. I do it every day. So if someone with real expertise would finally talk to me we might be able to actually get somewhere.


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

FWIW the Edge will act as the MOCA bridge. So it could be worth a shot to hook up a mini to the coax and see if it works that way at all. But since its never worked or could be something wrong with the edge for sure.

The other thing is the client server code is funky and really prefers dedicated IP addresses. Its something the minis certainly prefer. Also longer term minis doing dhcp requests can cause strange outages so its unfortunately something that should be done on any network. 

What's a little scary is I have had very similar symptoms to you, you have just had it way worse. Its basically been 2 weeks without issue except for when I had to reboot the edge when its gui crashed, and even the mini worked out the issue itself eventually.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Well the way my network is set up generally a device gets the same IP address over and over. Both the mini and the edge have had the same IP addresses since I started trying to get them talking, so while I could easily lock them down to static IP values with their MAC addresses, it would not change much. I suppose I could try making them fully static and avoid DHCP just for giggles to see if it changes anything. Might try that tomorrow so I will be ready when support calls and asks me to do just that.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Kendall Bennett said:


> They did say they sent me a new Edge device a week or so back, but nothing ever showed up so not sure what happened there. Guess next time I speak to them I will ask them what happened to the replacement. My gut tells me that after I get the replacement, wrestle with Comcast for 2 days to get the silly cablecard to work, the new one will do the same thing as the old one .


Please follow up on that. A new box will have a new TSN. To save time, skip the cable card (just select "Install later") and check for a,a,a,a which should mean that the Mini will have no problems with host access, but no channels. But access to the Mini should be quick. If you're bored, run a channel scan. That will detect any clear QAM channels. I have two. You get that far, then install the card and start the Comcast battle. Good luck.


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Well the way my network is set up generally a device gets the same IP address over and over


Yeah I get it, I'm essentially and enterprise infrastructure architect. So I get how dumb the whole thing sounds, but if you search around forums you will find weird things like minis doing dhcp storms, sending out packets to tell switches/routers to halt traffic, etc... Locking up the internet side of the router until the port is unplugged on one of the minis, etc...

I thought the same way as you, but I learned a long time ago its easy to try something while troubleshooting. Which since minis can do various DOS attacks on networks, have you tried setting up one mini at a time? I doubt its one mini causing all this hassle, but their network code seems bad...

Also put it this way, Tivo shipped and new product that couldn't work with tuning adapters. The cable version of the Edge is first and foremost a cable DVR and many cable companies require tuning adapters. What other kernel drivers did they mess up and never test for?


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Fugacity said:


> Yeah I get it, I'm essentially and enterprise infrastructure architect. So I get how dumb the whole thing sounds, but if you search around forums you will find weird things like minis doing dhcp storms, sending out packets to tell switches/routers to halt traffic, etc... Locking up the internet side of the router until the port is unplugged on one of the minis, etc...
> 
> I thought the same way as you, but I learned a long time ago its easy to try something while troubleshooting. Which since minis can do various DOS attacks on networks, have you tried setting up one mini at a time? I doubt its one mini causing all this hassle, but their network code seems bad...
> 
> Also put it this way, Tivo shipped and new product that couldn't work with tuning adapters. The cable version of the Edge is first and foremost a cable DVR and many cable companies require tuning adapters. What other kernel drivers did they mess up and never test for?


Yeah I get stuff can work strangely, but it's getting ridiculous. I literally connected via WiFi to the main router, then plugged the TiVo Mini into the main router and the problem persisted. Then they called me back again on Monday and asked if I could plug the main TiVo Edge into the router directly as well which would mean relocating it up into the theater room to do the testing. I have no freaking idea why they believe a hard line connection to the router would miraculously change anything?

I asked if they could just please, please try changing the TiVoToGo permissions, but they refused. They said engineering said a,i,a,a is the correct setting for the TiVo Edge, and that I needed to plug it into the main router directly. If for some really stupid reason it did work all hardwired into the main router and bypassing my network switch, how exactly does that solve anything? I can't use it that way in real life?

So they decided again to send me a new Edge device (not sure why but they canceled the last one?). I am at my wits end here, and I think it's about to go past the return period with Best Buy for my devices so I if this replacement TiVo Edge does the exact same thing (which I suspect it will if the permissions are a,i,a,a again), I am going to lose my **** and demand they take it all back and send me a check to refund it all.

Or maybe I will get in the car and drive down to San Jose and walk in their front door and make them show me how it should work on *their* network.

Once I do get the new box however I am going to set it up without doing the cablecard setup, and see if the permissions are set to a,i,a,a and if the mini can connect. No point going through the entire process again with Comcast to get the cablecard working if the I still can't get them to talk to each other. And if the permissions are correct and it works, it will be interesting to see if it continues to work after I enable the cablecard.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Without a cable card you may be able to do a channel scan. But it may not find any clear QAM channels. During setup just select "Install later".


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

Kendall Bennett said:


> cablecard setup, and see if the permissions are set to a,i,a,a


This may have been lost in the weeds, but my permissions on my edge are exactly like yours a,i,a,a and everything works... So I don't think that is your problem. Since I don't know what a,a does. Who knows it could help but a,i doesn't make mini's not work ever.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Fugacity said:


> This may have been lost in the weeds, but my permissions on my edge are exactly like yours a,i,a,a and everything works... So I don't think that is your problem. Since I don't know what a,a does. Who knows it could help but a,i doesn't make mini's not work ever.


Your Mini works ok? Must be a new thing with the EDGE. On previous platforms if you have i,a,i,a then file transfer is blocked. But that implies more than one TiVo.


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

JoeKustra said:


> Your Mini works ok?


 Once I setup dhcp reservations they work perfectly. But yeah a,i,a,a on the edge indicates shows as tuner, recordings being available from an A95 mini at least.

The Edge is a TE4 only box, it can't do multiroom viewing. Supposedly online.tivo.com will initiate transfers, but some people still have issues with that(I don't have more than one to test). Any TTG, kmttg, etc transfers from a PC cause the Edge to crash and reboot. They are supposed to eventually fix at least the crash.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Fugacity said:


> Once I setup dhcp reservations they work perfectly. But yeah a,i,a,a on the edge indicates shows as tuner, recordings being available from an A95 mini at least.
> The Edge is a TE4 only box, it can't do multiroom viewing. Supposedly online.tivo.com will initiate transfers, but some people still have issues with that(I don't have more than one to test). Any TTG, kmttg, etc transfers from a PC cause the Edge to crash and reboot. They are supposed to eventually fix at least the crash.


Just for kicks, I set my device preferences on tivo.com for my TE4 Roamio by unchecking the boxes. Next day I saw the TTG as i,a,i,a and as expected I lost the ability to transfer programs from the TE4 to the TE3. I should say the option is missing on the TE4 to be exact. I went back to TiVo.com and checked the boxes and I'm wait for the box to go back to a,a,a,a. I was using the TE4 3TB box for movie storage, but ran into the "10 minute bug" about 1TB into the storing. I can still watch the programs, but I'm waiting for the bug fix.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Fugacity said:


> Once I setup dhcp reservations they work perfectly. But yeah a,i,a,a on the edge indicates shows as tuner, recordings being available from an A95 mini at least.
> 
> The Edge is a TE4 only box, it can't do multiroom viewing. Supposedly online.tivo.com will initiate transfers, but some people still have issues with that(I don't have more than one to test). Any TTG, kmttg, etc transfers from a PC cause the Edge to crash and reboot. They are supposed to eventually fix at least the crash.


Well as expected the new TiVo Edge does not work any differently. Permissions are set to a,i,a,a and TiVO says that's the correct setting for the edge.

Are you saying that the TiVo Edge is not actually capable of multi room viewing? If that is the case if would make a whole more sense, but the real question is why is that the case, and why doesn't TiVo support know that? It's the latest and greatest TIVo device so it makes no sense that the Romio or more capable?


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Fugacity said:


> The Edge is a TE4 only box, it can't do multiroom viewing.


I just checked the TiVo web site again and it certainly advertises that the edge can do multi room viewing and supports the mini VOX. So it has to be something else.

I am going to try DHCP reservations. Do you just set them up based on the MAC address, just set them as static IP addresses or some other way? I might just make them full static outside the range of my DHCP addresses.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Well I just set the edge to static IP v4 and also set the mini to static IP v4. Made zero difference which is what I would have expected. Static vs DHCP should make no difference if the devices keep getting the same addresses (which they did).

All this points to an account level problem, which is what I have been trying to tell TiVo since the beginning (heck it even says it right on the troubleshooting page!). So it's either the a,i,a,a permissions, or it's something else. But it's not a device problem or a network problem.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Kendall Bennett said:


> I am going to try DHCP reservations. Do you just set them up based on the MAC address, just set them as static IP addresses or some other way? I might just make them full static outside the range of my DHCP addresses.


Some bridges mirror the MAC addresses, so unless you are using a bridge it's simpler to put the IP address in the EDGE.

I have several bridges. My method is to make a reservation for the bridge in the router with the last octet of 8, 16,32,64, etc. and keep the devices connected with fixed addresses starting with the number after the bridge. So the five devices connected to the .8 bridge start at .9, .10 and so on. I let the wireless devices, like my Roku and smart televisions fight over the leftovers. I have about 30 devices. Just pick an address range and a post-it with each device and its address.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Have you posted in the EDGE forum asking for any EDGE owners with a Mini VOX how it works?


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## Fugacity (Oct 1, 2004)

Kendall Bennett said:


> Do you just set them up based on the MAC address, just set them as static IP addresses or some other way


I just set them up with MAC address reservations.

The Edge locked up the network port the other day but doing network connections said it couldn't find the router, rebooting the swithc and then letting the network connection complete, including the loading part let the mini's work again for me. So there are instances when minis don't work, and take a while to get to work again for me but its few and far between.

Its my understanding that multi room viewing is a limited term for Tivo. Which is the ability for one tivo dvr to see the other tivo dvr and initiate a transfer of the program so that it can be watched. Which I don't think TE4 can do, but you are supposed to be able to initiate transfers on online.tivo.com (some people have mixed results with this but its suppose to work on the Edge when selecting a few at a time to transfer). I may be 100 percent wrong though about being able to initiate from one DVR to another with an Edge.

Tivo Customer Support Community

indicates that for multiroom viewing permissions hould be a,a,a BUT Transfers from a PC to and edge are not allowed, so that could be why its a,i,a for the Edge, but that page isn't updated properly either nor is there any info on troubleshooting for TE4, only TE3.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Fugacity said:


> Tivo Customer Support Community
> indicates that for multiroom viewing permissions hould be a,a,a BUT Transfers from a PC to and edge are not allowed, so that could be why its a,i,a for the Edge, but that page isn't updated properly either nor is there any info on troubleshooting for TE4, only TE3.


That's a great find. It does state that a,a,a is needed for the EDGE. Last week I unchecked the first box on my TE4 Roamio. After letting it perform a service connection, the TTG displayed i,a,i,a and I could not transfer programs, but could view them from a TE3 Roamio or BOLT VOX. I haven't found a way to make Online fail to transfer. I have since set it back to allow transfers. Also, I noticed that there seems to be a delay in updating the system. It may be that several servers are involved.


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## Kendall Bennett (Dec 21, 2019)

Thanks for that link! Thats what I have been trying to tell them all along, that the i in there is related to the permissions set on the TiVo account but it does not ever change based on those settings.

I asked them again if they could please just try changing those values and see what happens.


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