# Desktop sees Tivo only on Beacon not Bonjour



## 188 (Oct 15, 1999)

I changed the name of my S3 and it now has no problems connecting to the internet, streaming Netflix, etc. It is connected to the router via ethernet. However, I have not been able to get Tivo desktop to see it over the network despite doing a hard reboot of the S3 and forcing a connection, uninstalling and reinstalling the Tivo Desktop, disabling the Norton firewall at time of install. Finally, today, I went into the network settings and changed it from Bounjour to Tivo Beacon and suddenly I can see the S3, get recordings, etc. When I change back to Bounjour, the desktop no longer sees the Tivo.

Maybe I should leave well enough alone, but I would like to get it working with Bonjour, and it does seems a little slow to retrieve using Beacon. 

Is there some simple explanation why it is working this way, and also how to get it working with Bounjour?

Any help would be appreciated.


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## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

You've got company. I didn't do anything that I know could have caused the same or similar problem with TiVo. All of a sudden my S3 couldn't find any video files on my computer. Changing to TiVo Beacon made everything work fine again.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled Bonjour with no change. So for now I'm staying with Beacon.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Might want to check your firewall. An easy way to see if it's causing problems is to simply disable it for a minute and see if the problem resolves itself. If it does then you know it's the problem. If not turn it back on and start looking elsewhere.

Dan


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

BL said:


> Maybe I should leave well enough alone, but I would like to get it working with Bonjour, and it does seems a little slow to retrieve using Beacon.


Is the slowness with Tivo Beacon the only reason you prefer to use Bonjour?
I didn't really notice that much difference.
For me Tivo Beacon has been much more reliable. I don't care if it's slow.



Dan203 said:


> Might want to check your firewall. An easy way to see if it's causing problems is to simply disable it for a minute and see if the problem resolves itself. If it does then you know it's the problem. If not turn it back on and start looking elsewhere.
> 
> Dan


It could be a firewall problem but IME, Tivo Beacon has proven more reliable for me.
When I use Bonjour, my auto transfers are sporatic. With Tivo Beacon, they're in my recordings folder the next day after the show airs without question.


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

BL said:


> Is there some simple explanation why it is working this way, and also how to get it working with Bounjour?


Bonjour depends upon having working multicast network conditions. I've found some Realtek network interface cards just plain do not work properly with multicast. I switched (or added) an Intel-based NIC and all my multicast network problems disappeared. Does your desktop computer use a Realtek NIC??


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## 188 (Oct 15, 1999)

I don't really have a rational reason for preferring Bonjour, it just seems like it should work, but it does not. If there is not an easy fix, I am probably okay sticking with Tivo Beacon.

I have tried disabling the firewall several time and it has no effect, unless Norton has some quirks I am not aware of.

The network card is an integrated one that came with my Dell computer (2010 vintage), so I assume it is an Intel card, but I am not certain.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

My instinct would be to blame your router for not passing multicast.


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## bobfrank (Mar 17, 2005)

But, in my case there was no change in router, NIC or firewall. 

I personally don't have a preference, at this time, between Bonjour and Beacon. Tivo recommends Bonjour is the only reason I would prefer it. I haven't compared speeds since I just set up the transfer and check back some time later to see it.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

The actual transfer happens via HTTP either way, so it will not effect transfer speeds. This option only effects how TiVos and PCs on your network discover each other. It's basically just a simple way for them to let each other know that they exist on the network and what their IP address is. I think TiVo only prefers Bonjour because it's more standard and less likely to conflict with other devices. If TiVo Beacon works on your network then you can use it without worrying about any performance impact. 

Dan


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

BL said:


> so I assume it is an Intel card, but I am not certain.


When you ass-u-me... Check. It may well not be an Intel NIC. If you want to cut to a quick test then hook up a USB network interface and test it. A cheap $15 usb-wired ethernet dongle would be sufficient. That'd at least confirm/deny if it's your built-in NIC.

A router would only be an issue if the Tivo and the computer were on different networks. Most usually only when they're on different subnets (different IP ranges), but sometimes it can happen when there's some on wired with others connected wirelessly. I suppose there's a few edge cases where a router configured with overly paranoid security settings might block multicast, but that'd be rather rare.


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## SNJpage1 (May 25, 2006)

I have the same problem. Drove me crazy til I selected beacon.


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## alexofindy (Apr 16, 2010)

Though I realize the OP didn't change his/her router, so this is not likely to be his/her problem, but I would like to add that I had the same problem with Bonjour; this turned out to be an issue with my router, a Linksys WRT610N (version 1). This router will not pass Bonjour unless the configuration on the security configuration tab of the router UI is set to "filter multicast" (i.e., the box is checked). This is not the default, and is actually counter-intuitive. But if anyone has this router, and finds that Bonjour is not passing on their, try changing the setting (put a check in the box).


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## hdog (Nov 10, 2002)

I'll be changing routers to a linux running smoothwall 3.
Is there a good way to test multicast capabilities? e.g. a test suite?


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## CheriePie (Jun 20, 2012)

alexofindy said:


> Though I realize the OP didn't change his/her router, so this is not likely to be his/her problem, but I would like to add that I had the same problem with Bonjour; this turned out to be an issue with my router, a Linksys WRT610N (version 1). This router will not pass Bonjour unless the configuration on the security configuration tab of the router UI is set to "filter multicast" (i.e., the box is checked). This is not the default, and is actually counter-intuitive. But if anyone has this router, and finds that Bonjour is not passing on their, try changing the setting (put a check in the box).


I know this thread is a bit old but I just had to comment to say: Awesome!! This was EXACTLY the setting I needed to get my TiVo transfers working over Bonjour again. Muchos gracias!!!


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## vasilemj (Jul 2, 2002)

So my problem is the reverse...I can only get my TiVo Premiere to see my Desktop (not the other way around) if I use Beacon. My TiVoHD sees the Desktop fine, as does my Series 2. But Premiere will only work if I use Beacon. I have unchecked the "Filter Multicast" option on my Linksys Router and that hasn't appeared to fix my issue.

Any suggestions? Why would the Series 2 and TiVoHD work fine but the newer Premiere need the older Beacon technology?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

This may not specifically be a Desktop problem.

I see that my S3 has gone back to its TSN based name rather than the one I gave it. 

Again.

So apparently there's something f**#ed up on the TiVo, Inc, side of the equation.


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## Bfetch (Dec 10, 2010)

A little late to the music streaming party but I found myself in a similar situation (Premiere XL & TD v2.8). 

I'm guessing some of you might have iTunes installed - I did (and had Apple Bonjour installed). My biggest issue was when a track finished it wouldn't go on to the next one with a secondary one being an inability to "find" my shared library easily. Switching to Beacon solved that particular problem and now haven't had to "work" to bring my music library up on the PXL. 

As others have noted, the Beacon vs. Bonjour discussion is merely the mechanism with which your Tivo discovers your workstation - the transfer of media is still the same regardless of the discovery protocol chosen. I'd presume the problem with using Bonjour is you may have iTunes attempting to operate on the same service as Tivo Desktop so they're stepping on each other.

Thus, switching to Beacon will ensure you're removing any possibility of an Apple software bit poking its head into the communication.

Opinion time: iTunes is the biggest, slowest, most-frustrating piece of egocentric junk when it comes to running on a PC.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Bfetch said:


> ...
> Opinion time: iTunes is the biggest, slowest, most-frustrating piece of egocentric junk when it comes to running on a PC.


When one considers all of the other worthy contenders for that title over the years...


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

Bfetch said:


> I'm guessing some of you might have iTunes installed - I did (and had Apple Bonjour installed). My biggest issue was when a track finished it wouldn't go on to the next one with a secondary one being an inability to "find" my shared library easily. Switching to Beacon solved that particular problem and now haven't had to "work" to bring my music library up on the PXL.


This is a longstanding bug with the TiVo's music player that, AFAICT, is unrelated to the Beacon/Bonjour business. It sometimes seems to resolve on its own; other times, you have to reboot the TiVo. I'd think it pure coincidence that you saw it resolve around the time you switched to Beacon.



> _I'd presume the problem with using Bonjour is you may have iTunes attempting to operate on the same service as Tivo Desktop so they're stepping on each other._


I think that TiVo Desktop actually registers with the running Bonjour service, so it handles both TD and iTunes with one instance. There should be no interference. Even with pyTivo, which uses its own Zeroconf implementation, it's able to run alongside Apple's Bonjour, with both of them listening to UDP port 5353, without interference. (Of course, it does show the same problem with the TiVo's MP3 player locking up. But that also happens with no iTunes in the picture.)


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## wkearney99 (Dec 5, 2003)

Correct,Bonjour is a background service and TD registers itself to use it. Anything else that needs to use Bonjour can do likewise without risk of anything interfering.


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