# Connection issue over my Network



## devo1977 (Mar 19, 2007)

For a couple of days my TiVo has stopped connecting over my network to get updates. I get 'Failed - Couldn't Connect'. 

I did a bit of fiddling with TWP 2.0 so I'm thinking that the box might have put its self back to "dial up" somehow. Is there anyway I can check that I still have "network" selected without having to pull the drive? Maybe via the bash prompt or within TW?


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## CarlWalters (Oct 17, 2001)

Hmmm. I've just had a look at mine and I'm getting "Failed. Wrong number" and my last successful call was Sunday 8 April. Is this a general problem?


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## devo1977 (Mar 19, 2007)

Phew, I thought it was me. I'm running TW (final) and TWP 2.0. Anyone have any ideas? Maybe the TiVo network is down. I have 'Failed - Wrong Number' in TWP but within my TiVo it says 'Failed - Couldn't Connect'.


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## yungee (Dec 29, 2002)

It doesn't seem global.

Tivo # 1 (via Turbonet) shows: Succeeded - Saturday 14th Apr at 08:33
Tivo # 2 (via Cachecard) shows: Succeeded - Friday 13th Apr at 13:55

Edit: This is via Virgin Cable (Ex TW), with the "transparent proxy" modification made to /tvlib/tcl/tv/Ident.itcl


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## devo1977 (Mar 19, 2007)

Okay so maybe not. Does anyone know of a bash command to check that I still have "network" selected or do I need to pull the drive?


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## yungee (Dec 29, 2002)

devo1977 said:


> Is there anyway I can check that I still have "network" selected without having to pull the drive? Maybe via the bash prompt or within TW?


Run nic_config_tivo on the Tivo.


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## devo1977 (Mar 19, 2007)

Thanks!! Didn't realise you could do that without pulling the drive.


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## devo1977 (Mar 19, 2007)

My cache card is still set up for "network" but it's refusing to connect today. I don't know what's up. My network is seeing the TiVo. Any ideas? I updated recently from TWP 1.3.1 to 2 maybe that messed it up?!


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

I only installed a Cachecard and TWP 2 yesterday. I'm pretty sure the test call I made yesterday worked OK, but today I'm also getting no joy.


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

Sorted my problem. I'd forgotten to suffix the line that starts endpad in the rc.sysinit.author file with ">dev/null 2>&1 &".


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Now you've got me worried. I have a chache card and TWP 2.0 however I don't have the string you mention in my rc.sysinit.author file at all. Only the auto start info for TW and TWP. What does this extra string do?


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## BaggieBoy (Dec 4, 2000)

It makes sure the item just started runs in the background, without it it means it runs in the foreground and can interfere with other programs. I only added it to the end of the endpad line, I couldn't get TWP to work if I added it to its command line.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Breaking down the '>/dev/null 2>&1 &':

*>/dev/null* makes sure any output ("I've started!") goes nowhere. The forward chevron (>) 'redirects standard output' - standard output is the place where TiVo will send command output to the user - usually the place (terminal) where you typed it in. /dev/null is a pseudo device (/dev means device) that goes nowhere. In short, any potential output in terms of messages are thrown away.

*2>&1* sends 'error output' to the same place as standard output. In Linux based systems (of which TiVo is) you have standard output and error output. Standard output is channel 1, error output is channel 2. In short, any errors sent to the users are thrown away.

*&* tells TiVo to 'background' the command. In other words - go away and do it and leave me to get on with things. If you didn't do this, TiVo would do what you asked and not come back to the bash prompt until it had finished what it was doing.

The last bit makes the first two bits important - if you tell TiVo to background a task, any output will likely cause problems as it doesn't have anywhere to send the messages (background tasks can't 'talk' to the user).

So - the whole suffix tells TiVo to go off and do that thing, discard any messages and get on with the next thing asked of it.

Hope that helps.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

So does it matter if I don't have this? All I have in my rc.sysinit.author file is that shown below. Where should '>/dev/null 2>&1 &': go?

# Start TiVoWeb
# /hack/tivoweb-tcl/tivoweb &

# Start TivoWebPlus
/hack/TivoWebPlus/tivoweb &

/var/hack/tivoweb-tcl/tivoweb
/var/hack/TivoWebPlus/tivoweb


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Ricky - we know you've had problems installing things, so your rc.sysinit.author shows this. Your file shows that you are trying to start Tivoweb and TivoWebPlus *twice*. But since you're not complaining that your TiVo is dead, this is no problem. 

Tivoweb and TivoWebPlus are special cases in that they 'fork' another process - in other words, they're not going to 'hang' your TiVo when issuing commands to start them.

Here's how your sysinit.author would look with the '>/dev/null 2>&1' stuff:

```
# Start TiVoWeb
/var/hack/tivoweb-tcl/tivoweb >/dev/null 2>&1 &

# Start TivoWebPlus
/var/hack/TivoWebPlus/tivoweb >/dev/null 2>&1 &
```
If you haven't got TivoWebPlus you only need the first two lines.

Can I just stress that tivoweb is a *special case* you don't strictly need the '>/dev/null 2>&1' bit, *but it won't hurt*. It is *advised* that you have '>/dev/null 2>&1 &' on any other commands in rc.sysinit.author.

If that doesn't make sense, please do some searching\researching so that you understand what it means before making further changes! Sorry if that sounds blunt.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Many thanks Colin. I've amended my sysinit.author file to exactly match the strings you provided as I have both TW and TWP. Did a restart and no problems at all. 

The reason I was missing the essential string '>/dev/null 2>&1 &' is I followed Steve Conrad's TivoWeb installation instructions to the letter regarding the sysinit.author file and he made no mention of '>/dev/null 2>&1 &'. But then as I've alway maintained in my postings the instructions for TW and TWP differ greatly from site to site and most need instructions of their own!! The writers must think we're all Telnet aces.


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## ColinYounger (Aug 9, 2006)

Ricky - glad you're feeling comfortable, but remember my caveat: *tivoweb (all versions) are a special case*. That's why Steve Conrad didn't mention it; it's not strictly necessary.

But whatever. Enjoy your TiVo. Go on - do it now.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks again Colin. It's all too confusing for me, there seems to be a 1000 ways to do the same thing and not all of the work. Now I've got TW and TWP both working I'm happy enough. Especially since TWP can update it's self!


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

rickynumber18 - if you have a networked Tivo and you haven't installed the "endpad" program you are missing one of the most useful hacks out there.
There's a thread related to it here - I can't recommend it highly enough.


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Thanks Amc. I've installed endpad. Does it actually appear in TW? I have TW and TWP 2.0, telnet tells me that it's running but I can't see it. Does it just run in the background?


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

Yes, it just runs in the background but isn't evident in TivoWeb IIRC - I don't have plus installed.
The reason I mentioned it was it wasn't mentioned in your message about your rc.sysinit.author file


rickynumber18 said:


> So does it matter if I don't have this? All I have in my rc.sysinit.author file is that shown below. Where should '>/dev/null 2>&1 &': go?
> 
> # Start TiVoWeb
> # /hack/tivoweb-tcl/tivoweb &
> ...


If it's not in there it won't reload automagically if your Tivo reboots or suffers a power outage.

edit - You can see the Endpad logs from Tivoweb http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx/logs/endpad.log/


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi. I added endpad to my rc.sysinit.author file and I've spotted the endpad logs in my TW so all seems okay. Now all I have to do is edit my many padded season passes as it tells me to cancel any user defined extra minutes.


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## CeCeB (Apr 22, 2007)

Please help, I'm so frustrated.

I am very ignorant with the acronyms that everyone is using. I have a Series 2 Tivo, 80-hour unit, 2 years old with updated software.

Until this week, I was living in a house where I could "borrow" the wireless connection of a neighbor effortlessly. In my new location, there are no unsecured connections so I have to now get my own wireless to work.

I have broadband going into my Motorola SB5120 Comcast modem. From there, an ethernet is going into a Linksys RT31P2 (Vonage). From there, an ethernet is going into my D-Link DI-524 for my wirless laptop.

The Tivo setup sees my wireless modem's SSID but gives me a connection error on each attempt to connect. I tried to add the Tivo to the DHCP client list on my DI-524, but it needs the IP address and I can't find that, so that didn't work.

Can anyone please help me but I ask that you please write in plain, simple English.

TYIA!

CeCeB


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## rickynumber18 (Feb 28, 2007)

Hi CeCeB. You've posted your thread on the UK Forum, however I'm guessing that you're in the US since you have Comcast and a series 2 TiVo. One of the UK guys might be able to help but it would be worth while you posting on the US site as well.


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## cramar (Aug 14, 2005)

My second TiVo has also suddenly stopped getting channel data - the 'error code' was also shown as wrong number.

Upon checking my rc.sysinit.author, it seems that I too had missed the & from starting TivoWebPlus - strange that it had worked fine for a few weeks?????

Anyways, thanks for the tips - much appreciated!


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cramar said:


> Upon checking my rc.sysinit.author, it seems that I too had missed the & from starting TivoWebPlus - strange that it had worked fine for a few weeks?????


The lack of the & signs will always cause problems with lack of adequate backgrounding of endpad etc that get worse with time the longer the Tivo has been running without a reboot. Eventually the problems caused will get worse without a reboot.

Addition of the & sign to the end of each line in the file avoids these problems developing.


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## TCM2007 (Dec 25, 2006)

cramar said:


> My second TiVo has also suddenly stopped getting channel data - the 'error code' was also shown as wrong number.
> 
> Upon checking my rc.sysinit.author, it seems that I too had missed the & from starting TivoWebPlus - strange that it had worked fine for a few weeks?????
> 
> Anyways, thanks for the tips - much appreciated!


The "&" makes the command run in a new, backgrounded, copy of the shell. Not doing this means that if the command does not complete and return controll to the calling script, the script will stall at that point.

However most hacks - certainly including EndPad and I think TW - background _themselves_ as part of their execution, so the & is not strictly necessary.

Doesn't hurt though, except in that any error messages won't be seen in the log file.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Rather than just a simple & sign having *>>/dev/null 2>&1 &* at the end of each line in your rc.sysinit.author or rc.sysinit.author.edit file (if you use Sanderton's Startup Editor add on module for Tivoweb) file brings even more reliable results.

I forget the full geeky explanation of what each of these Linux commands do and why it is a good idea to have them all theer but all I can tell you is that it does work and you no longer get problems with applications called by your startup file.


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