# Official: 6.2a Information



## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

As most of you have seen, the 6.2a slices have started to flow down over the last week.

Automated installs should start today, and will continue for the next week or so.
The install is triggered when your unit phones in, and receives the "go ahead" with the install.

As expected.

This update is primarily for the DST changes.
There are a few other under the "hood" updates, but nothing is changing to the User Interface or Feature set.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

ebonovic said:


> As most of you have seen, the 6.2a slices have started to flow down over the last week.
> 
> Automated installs should start today, and will continue for the next week or so.
> The install is triggered when your unit phones in, and receives the "go ahead" with the install.
> ...


*sigh*
I'll need to rehack or use slicer I suppose. 
I hear that the DST problem only affects manual recordings. Any idea if this is true?


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## JaserLet (Dec 13, 2005)

UNder the hood changes both interest and concern me. 6.2 has been working pretty much perfectly for me--especially when compared to 6.3 on the HR10_250 POS. I can't help but wonder if some of the 6.2a changes were made to disable some of the hacks..........


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Well I guess my R10 won't be getting the update since it isn't hacked and I have no landline. Not a biggie.


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## Dkerr24 (Oct 29, 2004)

Both of my hacked units will remain disconnected from the phone line until I see if I am affected.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

I've asked this in other threads, but since this an official thread.
What about my T60?


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

Markman07 said:


> Well I guess my R10 won't be getting the update since it isn't hacked and I have no landline. Not a biggie.


Since the R10 never had 6.2, I doubt it would get 6.2a.

Wonder if there is also a "6.1a" planned for the R10...


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

ebonovic said:


> This update is primarily for the DST changes.
> There are a few other under the "hood" updates, but nothing is changing to the User Interface or Feature set.


I expect I know the answer, but by any chance do you have any idea what the "under the hood" updates might be?


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## drew2k (Jun 10, 2003)

cheer said:


> I expect I know the answer, but by any chance do you have any idea what the "under the hood" updates might be?


I'm guessing it will permit support of the enhanced guide data that DirecTV suspended in mid-January after all of the SP/WL recording problems?


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## thtv01 (Oct 14, 2000)

All of my d-tivo's are hooked up via Serial PPP instead of using a phone line, which if I remember correctly are unable to get updates pushed to them. Is that correct? And if so can anyone explain why the updates don't work via PPP.


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

thtv01 said:


> All of my d-tivo's are hooked up via Serial PPP instead of using a phone line, which if I remember correctly are unable to get updates pushed to them. Is that correct? And if so can anyone explain why the updates don't work via PPP.


Updates come down from the satellite, not via the phone call/network call. The phone/network call triggers the update.

There's no reason that I am aware of that you shouldn't get the update and trigger via PPP, assuming your unit isn't hacked to block software updates.


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## Da Goon (Oct 22, 2006)

DTV's tech support told me there were 2 other changes with 6.2a other than DST. They were changes to CGMS copyright protections and another to improve in handling the advanced program guide for season pass stability. The same changes supposedly apply to 6.3c.


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## tbeckner (Oct 26, 2001)

Actually, if 6.2 is running perfectly or you have a hacked 6.2, you really DO NOT NEED 6.2a, unless you are located in the EASTERN time zone. 

See this post: 6.2a is Not Needed


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

I'm planning on _avoiding_ installing V6.2a - I'll live with a few weeks of manual recording weirdness... and if the guide data format changes again I'll just fix my /etc/syslog.conf to turn off logging so the offending logfile doesn't overrun my disk space.


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## ebonovic (Jul 24, 2001)

tbeckner said:


> Actually, if 6.2 is running perfectly or you have a hacked 6.2, you really DO NOT NEED 6.2a, unless you are located in the EASTERN time zone.
> 
> See this post: 6.2a is Not Needed


Not entirely true...

DST is not the only fix that is in 6.2a

So you may not need it today... but you will need in the near future.


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

ebonovic said:


> Not entirely true...
> 
> DST is not the only fix that is in 6.2a
> 
> So you may not need it today... but you will need in the near future.


Correct. Without the update, folks are soon going to be right back to where they were in December in January.

Well, it will give them lots to talk about.


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## tbeckner (Oct 26, 2001)

ebonovic said:


> Not entirely true...
> 
> DST is not the only fix that is in 6.2a
> 
> So you may not need it today... but you will need in the near future.


Hey Earl,

How have you been?

It's likely that I might NEVER need 6.2a.

Although there are other patches included in 6.2a, unless DirecTV/TiVo breaks the grid stream again, I'll hold off with applying 6.2a until it is actually required.

At this point, only people located in the EASTERN time zone need 6.2a for DST.


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## tbeckner (Oct 26, 2001)

goony said:


> I'm planning on _avoiding_ installing V6.2a - I'll live with a few weeks of manual recording weirdness... and if the guide data format changes again I'll just fix my /etc/syslog.conf to turn off logging so the offending logfile doesn't overrun my disk space.


When you manually change the TIME ZONE, the TiVo correctly changes the manual recording times. The manual recording changes don't show up right away, but you can force them to show up correctly/corrected in the TO DO LIST by rebooting.


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## tbeckner (Oct 26, 2001)

dtremain said:


> Correct. Without the update, folks are soon going to be right back to where they were in December in January.
> 
> Well, it will give them lots to talk about.


I doubt that DirecTV would cause units that didn't update/patch to go crazy on purpose. Not good P/R.


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## rock_doctor (Oct 22, 2000)

One of my units took an update and then called back in. I assume to let DTV know it had update correctly. Don't see any differences and did not have to reset anything. No issues what so ever. Interesting DTV is keeping track of who updates. 

mark


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

tbeckner said:


> At this point, only people located in the EASTERN time zone need 6.2a for DST.


Even if you manually hack around the timezone problem both the eastern and pacfic timezones will have a problem. The east coast will have the problem from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in April and the west coast will have a problem from the last Sunday in October till the first sunday in November.

The really fun thing is from wikpedia - "Under Section 110 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy is required to study the impact of the DST extension no later than nine months after the change takes effect. Congress has retained the right to revert to the DST schedule set in 1986 if it cannot be shown that there are significant energy savings from an extension of DST or if the extension may prove to be unpopular with the American public. One potential issue is that some northern regions on the western edge of time zones will, for the first time since the 1974-75 "almost year round" DST experiment, have sunrise times that occur after 8am."

So we could go through this again in a few years.

BTW, the tzdata source is great reading on the history of DST around the world. Tons of comments on why it has changed in the past. Here is the main rule just for the United States:

```
# Rule  NAME    FROM    TO      TYPE    IN      ON      AT      SAVE    LETTER/S
Rule    US      1918    1919    -       Mar     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1918    1919    -       Oct     lastSun 2:00    0       S
Rule    US      1942    only    -       Feb     9       2:00    1:00    W # War
Rule    US      1945    only    -       Aug     14      23:00u  1:00    P # Peace
Rule    US      1945    only    -       Sep     30      2:00    0       S
Rule    US      1967    2006    -       Oct     lastSun 2:00    0       S
Rule    US      1967    1973    -       Apr     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1974    only    -       Jan     6       2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1975    only    -       Feb     23      2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1976    1986    -       Apr     lastSun 2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      1987    2006    -       Apr     Sun>=1  2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      2007    max     -       Mar     Sun>=8  2:00    1:00    D
Rule    US      2007    max     -       Nov     Sun>=1  2:00    0       S
```


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

tbeckner said:


> I doubt that DirecTV would cause units that didn't update/patch to go crazy on purpose. Not good P/R.


I disagree. Obviously they are going to return to the "enhancement" that caused the problem. It has been widely discussed that they will do it with a software upgrade, and some people on this forum, who usually know what they are talking about, have said that it is contained within this upgrade.


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## chris22 (Aug 31, 2006)

where is tzdata?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

chris22 said:


> where is tzdata?


The source just for reference is at ftp://elsie.nci.nih.gov/pub/tzdata2007b.tar.gz


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## tbeckner (Oct 26, 2001)

rminsk said:


> Even if you manually hack around the timezone problem both the eastern and pacfic timezones will have a problem. The east coast will have the problem from the second Sunday in March until the first Sunday in April and the west coast will have a problem from the last Sunday in October till the first sunday in November.
> 
> The really fun thing is from wikpedia - "Under Section 110 of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, the U.S. Department of Energy is required to study the impact of the DST extension no later than nine months after the change takes effect. Congress has retained the right to revert to the DST schedule set in 1986 if it cannot be shown that there are significant energy savings from an extension of DST or if the extension may prove to be unpopular with the American public. One potential issue is that some northern regions on the western edge of time zones will, for the first time since the 1974-75 "almost year round" DST experiment, have sunrise times that occur after 8am."
> 
> ...


Actually that isn't the case, if I use the manual setting and switch DST OFF, there isn't any problem with DST, in the SPRING or in the FALL. With DST switched off and the setting set to MOUNTAIN during the DST period, my TiVo is set to the correct time zone setting and it will work at the start of DST and will be there until I re-set it on the evening before going to bed on November 3rd.

DST isn't that complex of issue, but you are correct that the EASTERN time zone has a problem, but all other time zones DO NOT have a problem.

When you control the time zone and DST setting through the interface, you don't have to worry about the start and stop of DST, you just make the change the evening of Saturday March 10th before going to bed and leave it set to that setting (in may case MOUNTAIN and NO DS OBSERVED) until I go to bed on Saturday, November 3rd.

Simple, nothing complex. I believe you are making the issue more complex than it is. I have been a programmer for more than 35 years and this issue would be trouble if you couldn't use the interface setting to get around, but since you can DST is NOT an ISSUE, and it will not be an issue in the future, except for the EASTERN time zone.


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## john-duncan-yoyo (Oct 13, 2004)

Why is this time change only a problem in the Eastern Time Zone?


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

Because the other TZs can change to the zone before them to fake it out. Eastern cannot as there is no zone for us to change to.


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

john-duncan-yoyo said:


> Why is this time change only a problem in the Eastern Time Zone?


Using the workaround of setting your timezone manually (as described above), there is no timezone in the setup screen that is _farther east_ than the Eastern zone - i.e. you cannot select the Atlantic time zone because it isn't there (the boxes were made for the US market).

Central can switch to Eastern, Mountain can switch to Central, etc. to manually control the DST shifts.


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## dthreet (Jan 18, 2006)

Hmm, I still dont have slices on either on my Philips DSR704. However this CGMS copyright protection kinda makes me nervious. Does this mean I wont be able to copy things like off HBO and stuff to a dvd recorder?


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## hyde76 (Jan 7, 2003)

Got home from work this evening and both HDVR2's I have got the update last night. 6.2a installed, no problems.


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## chris22 (Aug 31, 2006)

SEE OTHER FORUM (the one that starts with a D and it is a database) for a SUPERPATCH! and BUFFERHACK!


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

ebonovic said:


> Not entirely true...
> 
> DST is not the only fix that is in 6.2a
> 
> So you may not need it today... but you will need in the near future.


Not necessarily. Once I changed the lines in my logs, all problems with the guide data ceased. So, since I'm in the Eastern time zone, the only thing I should have to worry about are manual recordings which I almost never do. It is my understanding that all of the other recordings are scheduled off of GMT and that only the grid display will be affected by DST.


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

bengalfreak said:


> Once I changed the lines in my logs, all problems with the guide data ceased.


Yes, but that wasn't fixing the real issue, it was just a workaround - kind of like taking the battery out of a smoke detector when you tire of the sound of the alarm... it is probably a better idea to fix the real issue.

It is uncertain if the "guide data fix" in 6.2a is something that is merely tolerant of the new guide data format or if it actively uses the new data somehow.


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## m17_jeff (Jul 12, 2005)

So does any one know is the R10s will get 6.2a or a 6.1a? 

How will DST be handled in the R10s?


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## technojunkie (Mar 15, 2000)

My TiVo (HDVR2) has not been recording shows via the season passes for about a week. I can find the shows in the program guide but the Season Passes cannot. I upgraded the software this morning to 6.2a. I've read some speculation that this might correct the problem. If that is so, how long should it take before Season Pass recordings begin again?


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## blips (Oct 20, 1999)

Will Series 1 DirecTivo's be getting an update?


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## lambertman (Dec 21, 2002)

Forgive my ignorance. I haven't hacked my S2 at all, but I also haven't called in for 531 days. If I force a call to get the DST issue fixed, am I risking downloading the bug that caused other DTivos to go kablooey a while back?


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## farleyruskz (Nov 13, 2000)

lambertman said:


> Forgive my ignorance. I haven't hacked my S2 at all, but I also haven't called in for 531 days. If I force a call to get the DST issue fixed, am I risking downloading the bug that caused other DTivos to go kablooey a while back?


No, you'll actually be upgrading to a fix for that issue as well.


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## technojunkie (Mar 15, 2000)

If 6.2a was supposed to correct the guide data issue...Foget about it! It made no difference to my system so I just put a virgin copy of 6.2 on a virgin drive. All the upcoming shows are back. Season passes recognize their upcoming program etc. So what caused the problem. The drive was hacked via Zipper and RBautch's enhancement script. Could someone be tampering with those files? Is D doing something to tamper with them?


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

technojunkie said:


> I just put a virgin copy of 6.2 on a virgin drive. All the upcoming shows are back. Season passes recognize their upcoming program etc. So what caused the problem. The drive was hacked via Zipper and RBautch's enhancement script. Could someone be tampering with those files? Is D doing something to tamper with them?


More logically, I don't think that you can expect Directv to accommodate for your hacks when they design software.


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## PeteEggebeen (Jul 21, 2002)

lambertman said:


> Forgive my ignorance. I haven't hacked my S2 at all, but I also haven't called in for 531 days. If I force a call to get the DST issue fixed, am I risking downloading the bug that caused other DTivos to go kablooey a while back?


As someone who's HDVR2 whent 'kablooey', if I were you I would take an old drive, put instant cake 6.2 on it with whatevery hacks you want (like zipper or ptvnet) and let the software update happen and see if you survive with out constant reboots. Let me assure you that rebooting four or more times a day has a certain suck factor to it. Nothing like trying to explalin to the wife why 10 minutes are missing from ER.


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## technojunkie (Mar 15, 2000)

Well if D doesn't want you messing with the unit they sure would. My concern is that those making the hacks available are doing what they can (They're free so I'm not complaining) To make sure that someone isn't messing with their programs.


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## glitchsys (Jan 31, 2007)

w00t! I'm screwed. heh. Had to get that out. Man, I just jumped into this Series2 hack revolution a week or so ago. I got a 6.2 image off somebody and ran zipper against it on a new hard drive and just popped it into my HDVR2 and SD-DVR40. It's been great (for a week)! And now, I gotta upgrade! Why couldn't I have discovered these hacks a year ago so I could be like some of you and say "things have been great for a year now". but nooo... I have to get into this market 1 or 2 weeks before there's a new software version and the US Gov't does something like change the DST, and I live in the EST time zone; oh, and I really appreciate those of you who posted that the upgrade isn't necessary and it's all good, as long as you DON'T live in the Eastern Time zone. I'm like "great!". Anyways... I'm a linux admin and I've done extensive hacks/mods on my Linksys WRT54G, it was only a matter of time til I got into a Tivo to mess with it. My biggest concern is the wife factor. I can't delete her recordings or be constantly messing with these units or she'll make me get rid of the whole setup She actually liked the new R15 recorders from DirecTV and was upset when I went to the DirecTivo's. I can hear it now "The R15 never lost all my recordings, or had any problems with Daylight savings, can't we just go back to it?" etc.

I'm watching thread 341200 on this website in order to figure out how to upgrade to 6.2a w/o having to pop the drives out of the unit or lose any recordings or any of that. Seems like superpatch is throwing a monkey wrench into things, but whatever. btw... superpatch has been modified to work with 6.2a, all patches/enhancments are working, so I don't think D did anything in the latest patch to hurt/stop these hacks. The DST fix seems a minor annoyance, bigger since I'm in the EST time zone, but the guide data update has me a bit concerned, I know there's workaround's and such, but if the 6.2a actually made use of the new information in the new guide data (instead of just tolerating it), that'd be kewl. The CGMS copyright thing has me concerned.


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## John T Smith (Jun 17, 2004)

>jumped into this Series2 hack revolution a week or so ago

There is, of course, a different forum for hacking help
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=24


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

> As most of you have seen, the 6.2a slices have started to flow down over the last week.


Earl, if you stumble across this post...

Any official word on what appears to be a halt of the V6.2a downloads? Not even a phone call seems to be able to obtain that version.


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## paris5 (Mar 8, 2007)

I tried unsuccessfully for weeks to get the slices with forced calls, add63.tcl, etc. Finally someone captured the slices and put them up on Emule.


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

See also this topic:  How Daylight Saving Time Will Affect Your DIRECTV TiVo DVR


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## i86time (Mar 6, 2005)

Da Goon said:


> DTV's tech support told me there were 2 other changes with 6.2a other than DST. They were changes to CGMS copyright protections and another to improve in handling the advanced program guide for season pass stability. The same changes supposedly apply to 6.3c.


So can anyone confirm what the changes to CGMS are? Is it an implementation for pay/ ppv/ vod channels (I though they already had it), an 'upgrade' for use on non-pay channels, or something completely different? I don't have 6.2a installed yet, and I would rather keep it that way and use the time zone work-around if it meant that I wouldn't be restricted on what I could copy.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

just let an unhacked unit dial in
no new software
edit
I take that back
it updated


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## i86time (Mar 6, 2005)

Gunny,
Not sure if that response was directed to my post, but (thanks to the unguide), I've been running hacked 6.2 since May 05. I just don't want to update to 6.2a and find out CGMS has ruined my ability to record to VHS/DVD. I was just curious as to what the new copy protections were, and why a software update would be needed since the data for that should be in the video stream of the program. Anyone know more? Is there any way to remove these changes and update (using a method similar to BTUx9's non-slice update)?


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

I was reporting what happened with one of my tivos this morning, nothing more.


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## Gunnyman (Jul 10, 2003)

DTV's automated system has now called 3 times today, anyone else?


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

Gunnyman said:


> Anyone else?


Zero calls here... or even emails about the subject.


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

I got one yesterday.


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## DonDon (Jan 14, 2007)

I got one yesterday.

I am a little leary of allowing the update, just because I don't want to have to mess with rehacking my units right now. They are running great and I don't want to F*** anything up right now.

I'll have to see if I can just disable logging and wait and see if the problems return when they turn the new guide data back on.

Don


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## gold3nman (Oct 4, 2006)

I have two zippered tivos. Whats funny is only one of my tivos got the slices and the other one didnt. I want to attempt to slice both of them but how can I get the slices from one to the other. I have never done a slicing before. Thanks.


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## goony (Nov 20, 2003)

gold3nman said:


> I have two zippered tivos. Whats funny is only one of my tivos got the slices and the other one didnt. I want to attempt to slice both of them but how can I get the slices from one to the other. I have never done a slicing before. Thanks.


If you have Zippered DTivos, read this thread: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=343660

You can patch your 6.2 boxes for DST without any 'slicing' - it took me about 4 minutes each to do my boxes. You download two files (the URL above has links to *install62a-v2.zip* and *62a.tivo.diff.tgz*), FTP them to your DTivo in BINARY format, unzip the one that contains the script, then launch the script using *tivosh install62a.tcl*.


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## demoman2k5 (Nov 9, 2005)

Just updated my 6.2 Hacked unit with the install62a-v2.zip and 62atifo.diff.tgz workes GREAT. Also used the updateActive.tcl.

Thanks you guys are the greatest, was worried I'd have to PLUG mine in and take my chances.


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