# Tivo not showing up on my Mac's Tivo Transfer



## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

I have a Mac Mini (powerpc) with Toast Titanium 8. When I start the Tivo Transfer program, my DVR (a Series 2 Tivo box) isn't showing up. I updated to the lastest version of Toast, my MAK is correct, the Tivo is connected to the network (I can call up its web page), and my Mac has nework connectivity too. I've done this in the past, I still have recordings in the library, but I haven't done it recently. I'm not very Mac knowledgable (I'm a PC person), so I'm a bit stumped as to what the problem is. The Tivo Transfer program doesn't really have any settings other than the MAK.

Anyone have an idea of where to start? I appreciate any help I can get.


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## Yoav (Jan 13, 2007)

bobcarn said:


> I have a Mac Mini (powerpc) with Toast Titanium 8. When I start the Tivo Transfer program, my DVR (a Series 2 Tivo box) isn't showing up. I updated to the lastest version of Toast, my MAK is correct, the Tivo is connected to the network (I can call up its web page), and my Mac has nework connectivity too. I've done this in the past, I still have recordings in the library, but I haven't done it recently. I'm not very Mac knowledgable (I'm a PC person), so I'm a bit stumped as to what the problem is. The Tivo Transfer program doesn't really have any settings other than the MAK.
> 
> Anyone have an idea of where to start? I appreciate any help I can get.


yeah ok read the full query  (editting).

Can your apple see the tivo via bonjour? (I don't use toast, but I assume that's how it probes for a tivo?)

you can run

mDNS -B _tivo-videos._tcp local

to see if it works


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## bedelman (Feb 26, 2001)

Or use something like Bonjour Browser from www.tildesoft.com

Some routers will block Bonjour discovery. I believe the one that usually does this is Linksys. There is an option on the router's configuration that can be changed to allow it, but the router's default settings will block it.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Yoav said:


> yeah ok read the full query  (editting).
> 
> Can your apple see the tivo via bonjour? (I don't use toast, but I assume that's how it probes for a tivo?)
> 
> ...


I have no idea what bonjour is. Lemme google it....

OK. I'll have to try this at home tonight. I know my mac has full network connectivity, along with my Tivo. I have a strong feeling that whatever automatic broadcast method is used to advertise the services is being blocked or something. Everything is on the same subnet. I use static IP addresses I assign myself.



bedelman said:


> Or use something like Bonjour Browser from www.tildesoft.com
> 
> Some routers will block Bonjour discovery. I believe the one that usually does this is Linksys. There is an option on the router's configuration that can be changed to allow it, but the router's default settings will block it.


I have a DLink b/g/n router. The Tivo uses just the regular Tivo-branded USB wireless adapter. The Mac uses an ethernet cable plugged into a Hawkins bridge. I think somewhere something is not getting across. And the stupid Tivo Transfer program doesn't have any settings you can change other than the MAK. It really should have an autodiscovery or a manual setting where you can specify the IP address of your Tivo.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Oh, and thanks, both of you, for your help. I'll be trying out things tonight.

I work with networks and PCs all day. My mac is for when I want to do little things like burn DVDs or such without having to get technical.


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## bedelman (Feb 26, 2001)

Bonjour is a discovery protocol also known as zero-conf. It's used heavily by Mac OSX for the discovery of printers, iTunes/iPhoto sharing, and so on. I've also installed it on my Windows hosts under VMware Fusion so I can print to the printers attached to the Airport Express USB port.

Personally, I'd suspect the problem is with your Hawkins bridge. I had heard a while ago that a similar product from Buffalo would block it.

- Bob


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## cmontyburns (Nov 14, 2001)

bobcarn said:


> I have no idea what bonjour is. Lemme google it....
> 
> OK. I'll have to try this at home tonight. I know my mac has full network connectivity, along with my Tivo. I have a strong feeling that whatever automatic broadcast method is used to advertise the services is being blocked or something. Everything is on the same subnet. I use static IP addresses I assign myself.


The simplest way to test for Bonjour discovery is to launch Safari, and in Safari's preferences, on the Bookmarks tab, check "Include Bonjour" in either the Bookmarks Bar or Bookmarks Menu. Then depending on which one you picked, go Safari's bookmarks bar or bookmarks menu and click the new Bonjour menu. Your TiVo should show up there if Bonjour is working properly across your network.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

I added bonjour to Safari. It's not showing anything yet though. Says there's no websites available. I'm going to log into my Hawking bridge to see what's up with it. I haven't reconfigured it, and I've been using it for a while, so I can't imagine why it's suddenly not passing certain traffic.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

There's very few settings on the bridge I could change. My dlink router has a LOT more settings I could change though. Would anyone know offhand the port numbers used when TiVos broadcast themselves?


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Still no good. Everything seems to work fine, I can't find a single problem with either the Tivo or the Mac (I can even do the Amazon Unboxed downloads on my Tivo), but the Tivo Transfer program keeps saying there's nothing out there. The only Bonjour option I have is "About Bonjour", which brings me to Apple's website telling me how wonderful it is.


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## Yoav (Jan 13, 2007)

Ermm, did you try the mDNS command I listed? (in a terminal, type:


```
mDNS -B _tivo-videos._tcp local
```
it will either list your tivo or not . And if you want to read up on bonjour:
http://developer.apple.com/networking/bonjour/specs.html

As for what ports it uses, it depends. I believe the default ports should be UDP 53
and TCP 53. It might be trying to use multicast DNS addresses though...


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## Yoav (Jan 13, 2007)

Oh and for my little plug (someone boot me):

iTiVo lets you specify your tivo's IP address ... And should do much of what you want to do with Toast... And is free...


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Yoav said:


> Ermm, did you try the mDNS command I listed? (in a terminal, type:
> 
> 
> ```
> ...


I just tried it, this is what was returned:
Browsing for _tivo-videos._tcplocal
Talking to DNS SD Daemon at Mach port 3843

I appreciate your help, by the way.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

Yoav said:


> Oh and for my little plug (someone boot me):
> 
> iTiVo lets you specify your tivo's IP address ... And should do much of what you want to do with Toast... And is free...


OMG YOU ARE WONDERFUL!

I put in my MAK, gave it the IP address, and just went right to the Tivo and let me download the show! You'd think that a software program that's supposed to connect to a network device would, oh I don't know..... _let you specify its address!_  But the Tivo Transfer won't let you do that.

I saw it does transcodings too! I can dump those shows onto my iPod now! Too cool!

I'm giving up on the Tivo Transfer program. Thanks Yoav!!!! :up: :up: :up:


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## bedelman (Feb 26, 2001)

You still may want to work on getting the Bonjour aspects working since it is used for many other things in Mac OSX.

With the Linksys routers, you need to modify your router's setup. Go to the Security page (i.e. http://192.168.1.1/Filter.htm), and down near the bottom, you'll see a setting for Filter Multicast. By default, it will be disabled -- which logically strikes many as the proper setting. However, if left disabled, Bonjour is blocked -- change it to Enabled, save the settings, and you'll be good to go.


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## bobcarn (Nov 18, 2001)

bedelman said:


> You still may want to work on getting the Bonjour aspects working since it is used for many other things in Mac OSX.
> 
> With the Linksys routers, you need to modify your router's setup. Go to the Security page (i.e. http://192.168.1.1/Filter.htm), and down near the bottom, you'll see a setting for Filter Multicast. By default, it will be disabled -- which logically strikes many as the proper setting. However, if left disabled, Bonjour is blocked -- change it to Enabled, save the settings, and you'll be good to go.


I have a dlink router. I used to have a Linksys one, but when it was acting up, I got a dLink because of the price difference. Also, the sales rep said he was very happy with his own, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Turns out there's a ton more options that can be set in the dLink than I remember in the Linksys. I'll check the multicast setting. I was pretty sure it was configured right....

hmmmm, I can't find where to change any kind of multicast settings. I can see what multicast groups the router belongs to, but not anything that lets me change settings.


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## ericgoldy (Dec 27, 2007)

Hey -- 

Just a quick thanks to the fix above -- perfect.


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