# What exactly will happen to un-ALTEPG'd boxes on June 1st



## tefster (Mar 15, 2004)

Sorry if this has been answered already (I'm a bit late to the party and have checked previous threads, honest!) but do we know a definitive answer as to what will happen to UK TiVos which haven't moved over to ALTEPG by June 1st ? 

On various forums I've seen people talking about them being 'bricked' but I'm assuming that they mean there will be no guide data/subscription status as opposed to "I have no guide data so I'm going to rm -rf / now and wipe out all your programs and just display an unhappy face" ?

I only use mine now for playing old recordings that I haven't had a chance to offload to DVD, and for the odd manual recording from channels which don't have guide data anyway (e.g. Sky 200). 

Its been powered off for a few weeks now and stored as I'm doing some house work and so it'll have expired its guide data and June 1st will have come and gone by the time I have a chance to re-connect it. 

- If I power it up on/after June 1 but don't connect it to the net then will it show up as a subbed TiVo which has no valid guide data and nag me to let it get guide data - but not nag me about subscribing ?

- If I power it up and connect it to the Net then presumably it'll end up as account closed and then nag me about subscribing and having no guide data ?

Basically if I just want to use it to play old recordings and to manual-record new ones then am I going to be ok after June 1 and should I unplug it from the net (I have a cachecard) or not ?

Thanks and sorry again if this has been answered elsewhere.


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## johnscott99 (Sep 23, 2002)

I accidentally made my TiVo service level 8 Account Expired last night. 

It's uncomfortable. 

The EPG TV guide disappears, the season passes go, the upcoming recording (tivo+2) stops 

All of this is replaced by a message saying your account has expired. "To activate TiVo features, call". 

It's a bit naff. 

you can still watch old recording, but most other features are dead. 

If they choose to leave the TiVo accounts alone, and just stop answering the daily calls, the TiVo will naturally run out of EPG and continue with it's other functions (manual recording etc). 

Why not head over to AltEPG forums and set it to dial to AltEPG?


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

I guess we are not going to know for sure till next week....

Some I think will unplug their boxes form the phone line (or change gateway ip to wrong value) on the last day of May and wait for others to find out.

I am betting on Status 8 - Account closed.

I was tempted to create a poll to place your bets on what will happen but resisted the temptation 

Automan.


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## Furball (Dec 6, 2001)

Automan said:


> I was tempted to create a poll to place your bets on what will happen but resisted the temptation
> 
> Automan.


Go on ....... you know you want to really 

_Dont forget to include the option "Nothing will happen"_ 

Furball


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Tivo won't/don't respond to email on this subject so we can only guess.

I presume it would take more effort for Tivo to deliberately close the accounts than let the daily calls fail. They'd have to leave the phones running and close the accounts as and when Tivos called in where as just turning them off by letting the contract expire would seem to require no effort.
Not sure what my networked one will do - I guess it depends on how hot the Tivo sys admins are on turning off the servers at the other end.

FWIW the indication from the official page http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/318/kw/uk suggests to me that you'll still be able to make manual recordings and view existing ones.



> Without the program guide data provided by the TiVo service, Series1 boxes will have limited - if any - functionality. They can still be used to view previously recorded programs and, under certain circumstances, may be used to record programs manually.


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

There have been hints that something will happen but an nda prevents the poster sayIng more


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## michael401 (May 20, 2011)

I'm with automan - I go for 8: Account Closed

It's just one simple database query to set all UK S1 accounts to code 8. A matter of seconds to write.


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## RichardJH (Oct 7, 2002)

Both my Tivo are networked and dial out via network card. What do I need to do to stop them dialing out as of 31/05/2011 but still keep them on my home network ?


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

RichardJH said:


> Both my Tivo are networked and dial out via network card. What do I need to do to stop them dialing out as of 31/05/2011 but still keep them on my home network ?


Have you used nic_config_tivo before?


```
Visit tivocentral.co.uk for upgrades and info !
Filesystem on / set to READONLY - type rw to make READ/WRITE
TiVo: {/var/hack} % nic_config_tivo

TiVo TurboNet/AirNet/CacheCard on Tivo Configure - 20050218

Copyright 2002-2004 Silicondust Engineering Ltd. All rights reserved.

Detecting TiVo hard drive...

Detecting TiVo partitions...
        Active kernel partition = /dev/hda6.
        Inactive kernel partition = /dev/hda3.
        Active root partition = /dev/hda7.
        Inactive root partition = /dev/hda4.
        Var partition = /dev/hda9.

Determining software version...
        Thomson UK Stand Alone TiVo running 2.5.5a-01-1-023

Remounting root partition...
        Root successfully remounted as writable.

Checking installation type...
        Configuring CacheCard installation.

Checking script...
        Complete.

Current/New Configuration:
        mac address      = 00:0B:AD:88:75:87
        ip address       = 192.168.178.40
        ip subnet mask   = 255.255.255.0
        ip gateway       = 192.168.178.1
        debug level      = off
        daily call       = network
        cache statistics = 0 seconds

Ethernet Options
        1: Change MAC address
        2: Change IP address/gateway
        3: Change debug logging option
        4: Change daily call option

Cache Options
        5: Change statistics reporting

General
        9: View/extract log file
        0: Apply and exit
        !: Exit without saving

[0..9]?
```
If you change the ip gateway to the wrong ip Tivo will not be able to find the web for any program data.

e.g. from 192.168.0.1 to 192.168.0.2

Restart tivo after the change and make sure all other details remain the same.

Other methods may also exist that are easier?

Automan.


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## RichardJH (Oct 7, 2002)

Automan said:


> Have you used nic_config_tivo before?
> 
> .


Yes I am familiar with nic config. I didn't realize it was just as simple as you explain.

Certainly easier than pulling out the AV stack and disconnecting cables

Thanks Automam


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## Trinitron (Jan 20, 2003)

I recommend pulling the phone cable as well if connected as TiVos have been known to randomly dial up even when configured for network.


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## Steve_K (May 5, 2001)

My bet would be they'll be one last System Message advertising Virgin, the phone calls will still work for a week or two but no updates to the data will be made. Setting account closed would not be clever legally but neither would be leaving the bxes repeatedly making forlorn calls for more data. Could get to be a real pain all round once BT cut off their phone number.

Or maybe TiVo Inc will blink. Certainly they are going to get annoyed if I set my phone prefix so the box repeatedly calls their US offices - yes I can afford the bill.


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## Furball (Dec 6, 2001)

Steve_K said:


> Certainly they are going to get annoyed if I set my phone prefix so the box repeatedly calls their US offices - yes I can afford the bill.


 that put a smile on my face I must say :up:

Furball


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

Steve_K said:


> My bet would be they'll be one last System Message advertising Virgin, the phone calls will still work for a week or two but no updates to the data will be made. Setting account closed would not be clever legally but neither would be leaving the bxes repeatedly making forlorn calls for more data. Could get to be a real pain all round once BT cut off their phone number.
> 
> Or maybe TiVo Inc will blink. Certainly they are going to get annoyed if I set my phone prefix so the box repeatedly calls their US offices - yes I can afford the bill.


From their latest message you may well be correct....



> Subject:	TiVo is about to switch off your current service.
> From:	The TiVo Team
> Date:	Fri 27th May 2011
> Expire:	Fri 3rd Jun 2011
> ...


Automan.


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

Steve_K said:


> Or maybe TiVo Inc will blink. Certainly they are going to get annoyed if I set my phone prefix so the box repeatedly calls their US offices - yes I can afford the bill.


Now theres an idea. I get free calls of upto 1 hour to the USA with my call package


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## Furball (Dec 6, 2001)

Well tivocentral seems to think it will be able to carry on doing manual recordings

http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/tivos1.php


> After 1st June your Thomson TiVo won't complete a daily call, and will only be able to do manual recordings.


Then again they also say



> An unofficial replacement service is under active development,* will only require a new hard drive* read more & signup


.......from the current alpha testing going on with altEPG it seems an old image will work just fine and just a dial string change is required :up:

Furball


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## mikerr (Jun 2, 2005)

Yep, TiVo themselves say you'll still be able to do manual recordings:



tivo said:


> Without the program guide data provided by the TiVo service, Series1 boxes will have limited - if any - functionality. They can still be used to view previously recorded programs and, under certain circumstances, *may be used to record programs manually*.


http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/318/kw/uk


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

Only another 3 and a bit days to go....

Automan


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## daveh (Sep 3, 2001)

TCM2007 said:


> There have been hints that something will happen but an nda prevents the poster sayIng more


But does the NDA stop him from saying whether he will be letting his own Tivo make that last call?


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## rondun (Jan 24, 2006)

daveh said:


> But does the NDA stop him from saying whether he will be letting his own Tivo make that last call?


I'm gonna take out a super injunction against him saying anything.
We're guaranteed to find out what it is then!


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

Perhaps Virgin and Tivo will do something nice....

1. Change your box so it lists all the programs you would get with a new Virgin Tivo.

2. Change the software so the manual record functions is more friendly and remove nag screens to subscribe.

Automan.


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## BrianHughes (Jan 21, 2001)

Automan said:


> Perhaps Virgin and Tivo will do something nice....


I'm counting on a software tweak so that your TiVo, while you're at work, digs up the road and lays a fibre cable to the nearest Virgin network (12 miles in my case).


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## katman (Jun 4, 2002)

BrianHughes said:


> I'm counting on a software tweak so that your TiVo, while you're at work, digs up the road and lays a fibre cable to the nearest Virgin network (12 miles in my case).


That wont work for unmoddified Tivos, only those that have had the "Shovels 3.0" hack installed.


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## babycakes (Oct 18, 2010)

My mate at Virgin Media tells me that the phone numbers used for daily calls are being deactivated. So your Tivo will run out of guide data in two weeks.


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

That's interesting as of course every UK Tivo _should_ be getting guide data over the phone line.

But we know different!

Automan.


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## michael401 (May 20, 2011)

There's going to be a rush on 'net cards...


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