We recently switched to DirecTV. We used a TiVo stand-alone box while we had cable, and would like to use it with our DirecTV. Does anyone know how we can do this? Thank you in advance.
I’d just pay the extra $4.99 a month and get the DirecTV DVR service and put the TIVO in the closet. You can usually get a DVR for free when they have deals going on, which is almost always.
DirecTV boxes without the DVR feature can be set to auto-ON and auto-tune to a certain program and you could probably set your TIVO to record at the same time. Trying to use the two tegether, you have to coordinate the two boxes to work together and it’s probably not worth the trouble.
My only experience with TIVO was with cable that didn’t require a tuner box and the TIVO acted as a tuner.
With the DirecTV DVR, you just look for what you want on the guide and hit a button and it records. Hit it twice and it’ll record the entire series.
I’ve had DirecTV with DVR for a year and haven’t watched live TV since.
You should have received a serial cable that plugs in to your DirecTV box. Then TiVo takes direct control of the box. If your receiver doesn’t have a serial port, then there’s a blaster, i.e., and infrared transmitter that you tape to the receivers IR receiver.
Like Balthisar said, your TiVo can control the DirecTV receiver with either a serial cable or IR transmitter. Mine is currently set up with an IR transmitter and it works well. Though of course you have to make sure someone doesn’t use the DirecTV remote to change the channel while TiVo is recording a program.
To change the TiVo setting (after having connected the DirecTV receiver output to TiVo and setting up the serial or IR cable), go to Settings -> Channels -> Channel List, and at the bottom it should say “Press ENT if this is the wrong channel lineup.” Do that, and it lets you redefine what kind of service you have.
I did have a minor problem in that the channel list TiVo selected included a lot of channels we don’t get with our basic DirecTV lineup. I ended up manually unselecting all the channels we don’t get (or never want to see). After that everythign works like a charm.
And if you’ve misplaced either of these cables, you can get replacements here.
After you connect the two, rerun Guided Setup to change your lineup and you’ll be good to go.
In my experience, the IR transmitter worked well on one TV, but not the other. If you get a lot of Tivoed programs where it’s on the wrong channel, this may be your problem, and a serial cable will fix it.
On our living room TV, we only use the Tivo remote. The Tivo remote can turn the TV on and off and change the channels. We never use the DirecTV remote- why would we want to have to keep track of another remote?
On our dining room TV, for some reason the Tivo can’t turn the TV on and off. So we use the DirecTV remote for that, and then the Tivo remote for everything else.
If you never use the DirecTV remote to change the channels, you won’t have a problem with doing so while the Tivo is recording. If you try to change the channel with the Tivo remote while it’s recording, the Tivo will ask you if you’re sure you want to do that.
I just looked and my DirecTV boxes have a USB port. Does TIVO have one too? I never knew what they were for.
I was under the impression that Tivo did not work with anything but cable, including DirecTV. Was I wrong? Tivo is the only reason we’re still with Comcast cable, which is a complete and utter pain in the ass.
I used DirecTV with TiVo from 1999 until 2005 (until I built my own HTPC network). In fact, I used it with both cable and DirecTV at the same time. Well, one tuner at a time.
My Tivo has at least one USB port. I have a WiFi adapter plugged into it, so it can talk to my PC, and get its updates from the web instead of a phone connection.