I just bought a Tivo series 2 through craigslist.com; I’ve got a couple questions:
According to the owner’s manual, the initial setup has to be done over a phone line. Is there any way around this? I don’t have a land line, so I was hoping that this could be done via ethernet/cable modem.
Also, the people I bought it from used satellite (I’ve got cable). It appears that to change this, I need to reset the system, at which point I’m prompted for a four-digit code (which I don’t have). Is there a way around this (I’m wondering if there’s a battery on the system board that can be pulled, similar to what used to be possible on computer motherboards)?
If anyone knows the answers, or even where I can go to find them, I’d be appreciative.
They have USB ports on the back, so you need an adapter to hook it up to Ethernet. I don’t know if they have USB 1 or 2, but that shouldn’t matter for just getting the program guide, since dialup works. I think you can get it that way.
I second what Gus Gusterson said. Go to that site, or Deal Database for help. However I’m going to say that you may be out of luck. If the Tivo was made to work with Direct Tv, then it may be a DirectTivo unit. Which will only have hardware inside to decode from a satellite, not from cable. I’m not sure if there’s a way around that or not.
I’m pretty sure you do need a landline to set up the Tivo. You’ll probably have to take it over to someone’s house to do the initial setup, allow an hour or so.
It’s been years since I set up my Series 2 but I don’t recall a 4-digit code at all. I’m sure tech support at Tivo will help you if it’s an issue.
IIRC the Series 2 has an Ethernet port, so if you have a wired network and/or a router nearby, you can run the cable directly. Otherwise you need a USB wireless adapter.
This may be trouble but believe me it’s worth it once you get it going.
Well, I’ve got it hooked up to the cable box now and it will pause and play live TV (though I still have to change the channel on the cable box with the cable remote); is that an indicator that it will work with my cable?
I suspect the code was put in by the previous owners (a parental lock-out thing); I may open the box and see if I can see a battery on the system board (hopefully it won’t be stored in NVRAM).
It does have two USB ports (no ethernet), and I’ve found some USB-to-Ethernet adapters on-line; but it sounds like the phone line set-up is unavoidable. Does anyone know if it will work over VOIP (I’ve been toying with the idea of getting Vonage for a while)?
Yes, the 4-digit code could definitely be a parental control code, I had one of those set. Not sure how to fix that, tivocommunity.com or Tivo tech support is probably your best bet.
Basic cable shouldn’t be a problem. But to get it to control your cable box, your cable box has to change the channel, Tivo can’t directly do it. You either have to have a cable box that supports plugging a control cable into it from the Tivo, or you have to have the IR (infrared) emitters that emulate the cable box remote control.
I’ve got the IR transmitters (and the Tivo-to-serial cable is cheap enough); but I don’t see the option to select my cable box. I thought that resetting the Tivo and going through the guided setup would resolve that, but I’m not so sure any more and I’ve got to get past the parental control code to do it.
Here’s a link from the Tivo people themselves. In any case, you’re gonna need a network adapter to do the daily calls. As long as the Tivo’s software is 7.2 or later, you’re good.
If not, can you take it somewhere where there’s a phone line you can borrow, just to get through the guided setup?
I can also wirelessly transmit Google videos to my Tivo with these items. I couldn’t figure out how to do it with YouTube, but I haven’t played around with it in a while.
We’re talking initial setup though, where you tell the Tivo your location and service type and channel lineup. Are you positive about that? I used phone line on my Series 2 and Tivo HD.
I did originally use a phone line when I first got my TIVO unit, but since I have been using the TIVO Wireless G USB Network Adapter, there have been several times when I had my router unhooked for days at a time and lost the TIVO set-up and had to start from scratch, and I’ve never used a phone line for that.
No, but that’s a totally different process. I’ve got two Tivo’s at my house now. They’re both on network adapters. I’ve never had to use a phone line to repeat guided setup for either of them, even though one of them(my baby) is 4 years old and happily living out its reitrement. A couple of days ago I had to reset the system twice before it would show any info on the now playing list. I did it without a phone line.
Still when they were originally hooked up, years ago, and blocks away, I had to haul a phone line over to them.