# FTP broke - possibly Windows Firewall



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

Hi - I can't FTP files to my Tivo anymore 

More specifically, I can't establish a connection.

When I type ftp <tivo_ip_address> I get "Connected to <tivo_ip_address>" as a response, but then nothing more

I've telnetted to the tivo, tivoftpd is running, I've killed and restarted it to no-avail

I've searched for posts about this, but found nothing.

Any ideas - is Windows Firewall getting in the way between my PC and Tivo? - I get no alert on the PC to say that, and the firewall is set to "Display a Notification when Windows Firewall blocks a program"?

TIA,

Alex


----------



## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

Have you tried rebooting the tivo?


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

No I haven't. That sounds like a technical support department question  

I am remote to the TiVo - can it be done from telnet?

Any particular reason why that should help if I have restarted the FTP daemon?

I don't think it's windows firewall as I turned logging on and nothing appears in c:\windows\pfirewall.log?

Alex


----------



## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

Turn off the firewall to check.


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

Good thinking 99!

Didn't think of that 

Anyway, after turning the firewall off, it still isn't working 

Thinking about it more, I get a response, as in "connected to IP address", so the firewall isn't blocking it.

Do I remember reading something about active vs passive FTP, or did I dream it? 

Is there any other reason why a command line FTP from a PC would connect to a TiVo but then not go any further? 

Alex


----------



## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

Try using an FTP client. SmartFTP is free and works.


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

I already use SmartFTP for other things like web site content uploads, but tend to use the command line for TiVo.

Anyway, tried SmartFTP and it doesnt work. I can try the reboot when I get home but am not optimistic it will make any difference. Think it must be something else


----------



## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

If you can telnet successfully to the tivo, issuing the command

reboot


should do the trick for you. On my tivo, I then wait approximately 4 minutes for the cachecard etc to refresh and then get connectivity again.

Sorry for the delay in the reply, but I've been visiting my mum in hospital.

Good Luck!


----------



## sanderton (Jan 4, 2002)

Just twigged you said you were remote from the TiVo - are you sure whereever you are connecting from allows FTP?

What do you get when you connect with SmartFTP?


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

I was using logmein to get to my home pc and ftp'ing from there, so no firewall issues. Since tried it @ home directly, same result 

Same results from SmartFTP, i.e. :

SmartFTP v1.5.991.24
Resolving host name "192.168.1.105"
Connecting to 192.168.1.105 Port: 21
Connected to 192.168.1.105.

then nothing...

Timeout after 40 seconds, then Client closed the connection.
Cannot login waiting to retry (30s)...


----------



## spid3r (Dec 14, 2002)

If your PC has CheckPoint SecuRemote VPN software on it, for some reason TiVo's FTPd won't play ball. Took me ages to figure out.


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

Hmm! Thanks, it has got that on it - does that mean you can't get it to work, what about if you kill the VPN client?


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

Just remoted in, and stopped the VPN client - same effect. 

That means I can't get anything onto my TiVo anymore !!!

Any suggested workaround to make it work? - I need the VPN client on there...


----------



## aerialplug (Oct 20, 2000)

Okey, a scenario I've come across. TiVo's FTP daemon is *basic*. It allows only one transaction/session at a time so if you're logged in in one place, you can't use it elsewhere. I've had occasions where my transaction locked for some reason. 

My solution to this was to telnet in, find the process ID for the FTP daemon, kill -9 the ID and then start it up again. It almost always worked. A reboot would have the same result but take longer.


----------



## alextegg (May 21, 2002)

aerialplug - see above, I did that, no effect

It looks likely it's the Secureremote client being installed as I have this on my work laptop and home PC and they both exhibit the same behaviour.

trouble is I need the client software, and it still doesn't work even when I close the vpn client

But I don't understand why this would be, I can ftp to other places with it on the PC, it's only TiVo that doesn't like it

Any experts with any ideas?


----------



## threadkiller (Dec 12, 2002)

reading through, you dont say whether you actually rebooted the TiVo. I have similar problems, especially when I forget to log off an FTP session properly, then it just wont let me back in. A reboot or stop & Restart FTP via Tivoweb hackmanager does the trick


----------



## spid3r (Dec 14, 2002)

Unfortunately there is a fundamental problem with that Checkpoint software and tivoftpd. Disabling it doesn't fix it. You need to completely uninstall it. Was a real pain for me. Strangely everything else works ok (ftp to Xbox etc.), so it must be a bug in tivoftpd.


----------

