# Ability to record buffer after next program begins



## JimGrisham (May 15, 2010)

Currently while watching live TV one can record the current show from the buffer to include the past 30 minutes, but only until the moment the next show in the guide begins.

One minute later, for example, 29 minutes of the previous show remain in the buffer and can be watched, but cannot be recorded. Pressing the record button at this point does not offer an option to record. If you try to record the current show, that will work and the first minute will be included in the recording, but the previous 29 minutes that were in the buffer disappear and are inaccessible (even if the recording is subsequently cancelled).

Real world example: I was just watching a news program that spanned two guide entries. I paused the show during an interesting segment to take a phone call, and 30 minutes later playback started again since the buffer was full. As I was not quite ready to resume watching the news segment, the logical solution at this point would be to record the current show, but it was now 3:10 PM so my only option would be to watch the buffer contents at that very moment or lose them for good.

It doesn't seem like a fix should be that difficult (from a UX perspective, at least)... if one is currently in the 'previous program' portion of the buffer and requests a recording, save that content with the metadata for the previous program. Preserve the 'current program' portion of the buffer as normal for viewing or recording.

[for reference, I believe this behavior has existed for at least a few years - I am currently running the new 20.7.2 OS on a TiVo Premiere TCD746320]


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Agreed. I was used to this on DirecTV but can't do it with TiVo. Wanted to just the other day.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

The work around seems to be to hit record yourself when pausing at a time you may not be able to finish in short order. Does not address the want, but addresses the need.


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## Sparky1234 (May 8, 2006)

jrtroo said:


> The work around seems to be to hit record yourself when pausing at a time you may not be able to finish in short order. Does not address the want, but addresses the need.


Concur!


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> The work around seems to be to hit record yourself when pausing at a time you may not be able to finish in short order. Does not address the want, but addresses the need.


Nope. Does not address the need.

You may not know you won't get to watch the end until you are past the point of no return. Or maybe you switched buffers and found something you want to watch back in time. Otherwise, why have a buffer that spans programs. Just dump it at the start of the next program.

It is a bug, plain and simple.


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## MighTiVo (Oct 26, 2000)

This is a long time annoyance of mine as well +1


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## emuman100 (Jul 3, 2003)

If you have a Tivo HD and hack /tvbin/tivoapp, you can have this feature.


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## skinnystar (Nov 28, 2008)

JimGrisham said:


> Currently while watching live TV one can record the current show from the buffer to include the past 30 minutes, but only until the moment the next show in the guide begins.
> 
> One minute later, for example, 29 minutes of the previous show remain in the buffer and can be watched, but cannot be recorded. Pressing the record button at this point does not offer an option to record. If you try to record the current show, that will work and the first minute will be included in the recording, but the previous 29 minutes that were in the buffer disappear and are inaccessible (even if the recording is subsequently cancelled).
> 
> ...


I have the 500GB Bolt.
The workaround (if I understand what you are saying), though not terribly easy, is thus:

As soon as possible set up a manual recording that starts before the show that you've missed. On my Bolt this will record as much of what's in the buffer as possible.
So, if you want to record the news that was on today from 6pm to 630pm, and it's now 645pm, set the manual recording to start at 6pm and to end at 7pm today. Tell it that you know it's already started, and to record anyway.
I don't have Hydra yet so I don't know if it will work after the update. I signed up to get it yesterday, so I should get the update soon. I'll find out if this still works with Hydra then.
I figured this out just recently, but it has worked every time that I've tried it.
It will record more than just that show, but it will record it. As soon as you are sure that what you want has recorded OK, you can stop the recording if you want to.

Often there is more than 30 minutes in the buffer. I've seen a full hour sometimes. For instance, if you tune in a movie to watch, and you're 45 minutes into it, you can push the record button and usually it will record from the beginning of the movie...IF you have been on that channel from the beginning of the movie.


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## MighTiVo (Oct 26, 2000)

skinnystar said:


> I have the 500GB Bolt. The workaround (if I understand what you are saying), though not terribly easy, is thus:
> 
> As soon as possible set up a manual recording that starts before the part that you've missed.


Clever - now why didn't I think of that?!


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## skinnystar (Nov 28, 2008)

MighTiVo said:


> Clever - now why didn't I think of that?!


I've had Tivos for more than 10 years, and have been frustrated by this problem a few times.
But I only figured it out a few months ago.
D-oh!!


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## MighTiVo (Oct 26, 2000)

skinnystar said:


> I've had Tivos for more than 10 years, and have been frustrated by this problem a few times.
> But I only figured it out a few months ago.
> D-oh!!


Well, 18 years here... and never occurred to me, and in general I am pretty clever , maybe not...


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## skinnystar (Nov 28, 2008)

skinnystar said:


> I have the 500GB Bolt.
> The workaround (if I understand what you are saying), though not terribly easy, is thus:
> 
> As soon as possible set up a manual recording that starts before the show that you've missed. On my Bolt this will record as much of what's in the buffer as possible.


Oh no.

I just tried this on the new Hydra interface and it did not work. There are a few bugs in Hydra, so I hope this workaround will come back with future updates...


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## TonyD79 (Jan 4, 2002)

Confirmed it didn’t work in Hydra. In fact, Hydra clipped to the time I started recording.


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## skinnystar (Nov 28, 2008)

skinnystar said:


> "I have the 500GB Bolt.
> The workaround (if I understand what you are saying), though not terribly easy, is thus:
> 
> As soon as possible set up a manual recording that starts before the show that you've missed. On my Bolt this will record as much of what's in the buffer as possible."
> ...


Well, I have another Tivo, a Premiere with the 20.7.4.RC18-748-2-748 software on it. Finally tried the above workaround on it, and it still works on the Premiere.

My Hydra on the Bolt is 21.7.2.RC11-USC-11-849. Just tested the workaround again and still doesn't work...


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## warrenn (Jun 24, 2004)

I want this feature as well. I don't have too many frustrations with Tivo, but this is the biggest frustration I have. It doesn't happen too often, but when it does, it seems ridiculous that Tivo doesn't handle it better. 

One option would be to split the buffer into two recordings. The past buffer is made into one recording, and the current show is made into a new recording.


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## bradleys (Oct 31, 2007)

Yep!


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