Tivo fucking sucks

The BBQ Pit
21

KGS, whoa there.

You are an Adelphia customer? Coming in and complaining about Adelphia in my Tivo thread is like a starving african child coming into a thread where somebody is bitching about the bad service at Applebees. You’re stealing my thunder!

I’ve been waiting for Adelphia to hook up cable to the house for two months now. I’m a new construction on a new street. We do have telephone lines and Verizon hooked up service in a week. However, it’s taking Adelphia forever to get the cat5 out here. Unfortunately they are the only option for high speed internet in “Cow Hampshire”, where I live anyway.

22

I record Nip/Tuck also. Tivo is better about this one. It tends to only record the new episodes.

Can somebody tell me how this works? If I record an episode, watch it, and then delete it, does Tivo remember that it is no longer “new” to me? I haven’t been using it long enough to figure out the details on things and this isn’t in the manual.

The “Into the West” mini-series is a good example of this. I tell it to record the show, new episodes only. It does seem able to do this. A new episode airs two times each weekend night on TNT. It only records one of them. During the week, I watch it and delete it. Then next weekend they air repeats of the previous shows, followed by a new episode. My Tivo then records the new episode, but again records the old ones.

Tivo is probably not smart enough to remember what I’ve already watched and deleted. That’s fine. Like I said, there will always be some manual intervention needed. They’ll never be perfect, but the way mine is working now on these other issues just sucks.

The problem I’m having is more with shows like O’Reilly, which has a “new” episode every day. Also Law and Order which airs five episodes per day which are all unique or “new” to me also. They fill up the time alloted and other “new” shows no longer get recorded.

(This is besides the fact that it’s recording even the repeats of many shows such as O’Reilly.)

23

First of all, TiVo does not suck. It is one of the greatest things ever, right up there with boobies and the SDMB.

And I’m certain beyond almost all doubt that the OP just doesn’t realize that he has a manual record option.
That said, there are a few things that TiVo doesn’t manage particularly elegantly:
(1) recording things like The Daily Show, which are rebroadcast repeatedly throughout the day. I just do a manual record from 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. every day (or whenever the morning repeat is). There might be a more elegant way to do this, but I’m not sure what it is, and I think that then when the specific-episode/guest information is lacking (which it is, occasionally) I’ll end up with 3 or 4 copies of the same show

(2) dealing with situations when 2 shows overlap. When I want to record a show from 9:01 to 10:01 and another show from 10:00 to 11:00, it should be possible to easily do so, PARTICULARLY when they’re both on the same channel.

24

I have a Tivo that came with Direct TV. It does indeed have those options in the Season Pass menu. You have to click on “view upcoming episodes” first. Then you go down the list and pick what time and channel you want to season pass.

25

Aha!

This might be the solution I’m looking for.

Sticking with my Law and Order example… I would think that the Tivo already knows that I want to record the 10 PM Wednesday episode because that is what I selected to record! However, this is obviously not the case.

I have not as yet tried using the “select upcoming episodes” to specify what time and channel to season pass. Since I’m not doing that, maybe it is assuming that I want all times and all channels?

(If my hypothesis is correct, Tivo still sucks mind you. It just sucks more for being hard to use than for lacking features. Why would it not already realize the show I want is the one that I picked in the first place!)

26

One thing, and I may be wrong, is that Tivo only recognizes a repeat if there is a repeat symbol “R” in the program desrciption.

27

Many people have pointed out how to manually record by time and channel. What you’re in need of now are Recording Options. Whether it’s a one time recording, or a season pass, you can tweak things with these options to achieve what you want.

Look here at TiVo’s website for details. In short, when you choose a Season Pass the default options look something like this:

[ul]
[li]Record Quality Best[/li][li]Keep at Most 5 episodes[/li][li]Show Type Repeat and First Run[/li][li]Keep Until When Space Needed[/li][li]Keep at Least 2 Days[/li][li]Start Recording On-Time[/li][li]Stop Recording On-Time[/li][/ul]

To conserve space on my TiVo, many of my favorite programs are set thusly:

[ul]
[li]Record Quality Medium (Lower quality takes up less space.)[/li][li]Keep at Most 5 episodes[/li][li]Show Type First Run Only (Doesn’t record older episodes)[/li][li]Keep Until When Space Needed[/li][li]Keep at Least 5 Days (In case I’m slow to watch)[/li][li]Start Recording On-Time[/li][li]Stop Recording On-Time[/li][/ul]

The key one here is “Show Type.” The default is “Repeats and First Run.” It will record every episode it comes across, except ones you’ve recorded before. It doesn’t track the ones you watch, just the ones you record.

“First Run” catchs only first run episodes, something the networks have to keep up with. Whomever compiles the guide data, marks each show as either new or repeat (in a TV Guide, and many newspapers, this is marked with a ® for repeats). If they fail to, which happens in some of the very old syndicated shows, TiVo will record it to be safe. Again, First Run also tracks duplicates based on if you have recorded it before. Handy that, because some “first run” shows will air several times in a week, or just the same day. If there’s conflicts, TiVo can juggle things, so maybe I record the 7pm showing, or maybe the 11pm showing, but I get it the new episodes, and I only get them once.

A final option is “All (duplicates included)” which will record every episode, whether you have recorded it before, or not. I’m hard pressed to think of a use for this, but I’m sure someone has.

I hope this helps, and I’d be happy to elaborate, or answer other questions.

InkBlot, TiVo Disciple
:eek:

28

It won’t re-record something it’s recorded within the last 28 days, unless you tell it otherwise, even if you say “Get all episodes.”

TNT is not providing appropriate data to Tribune, which is the company that compiles and provides guide data to TiVo Inc. The TiVo is supposed to get information on the first airdate of anything in the guide data, but it’s being left out of some of the airings of Into the West, apparently. This date is how it tells whether it is a first-run or rerun – I believe “first-run” = “within 28 days” also. Further, the showing should have an episode number associated with it, which is how the TiVo knows whether it’s been recorded within the last 28 days. If it’s missing this information, it errs on the side of caution and records the episode.

Well, what I do with things like the Daily Show that air the same episode several times a day is to change the Keep at Most to 1 episode, so that it deletes the old one and records the new every time it airs. I do the same thing with BBC World News, cause who wants to watch yesterday’s news? This way, the latest one (and only the latest one) is waiting for me at home. I’m not sure how you want to handle O’Reilly, though – I don’t watch it. If you tell me what you want the TiVo to do, we might be able to set up a way for it to happen.

As to the L&O, try this – delete all your L&O-related Season Passes (BTW, you’re not using WishLists to do this, are you? That’s the only kind of recording setting that records on several channels), and select the one on Wednesday that you want. Hit record, and then Get a Season Pass. See if that helps. You shouldn’t be seeing the NBC L&O Season Pass causing the TiVo to record on TNT, etc.

29

See my answer above. Then consider I learn this because I read the manual.
:smiley:
Mind you, I’ve the regular TiVo, not the DirecTV one.
InkBlot
:eek:

30

Not so fast, sport.

I probably do have a manual record option. I didn’t know about it because it’s buried in some menu and not available when I go to record a program. That is dumb and extremely sucky on Tivo’s part. I’ll check that out tonight to see what the deal is.

However, even if I do have a manual record option, this shouldn’t be needed in the first place. Manually recording means I miss my show if the time or day changes. It’s only a last ditch effort that I’ll have to use because of Tivo sucking so much that I can’t record shows using the “Season Pass” feature.

If lezlers is correct than I can get the season pass to work the way I want it. We’ll see. But, even if this does work, it’s extremely counter-intuitive and overcomplicated. If I select Law and Order at 10 PM then fucking record Law and Order at 10 PM! If the time changes, then adjust as needed. But, don’t fill up my hard drive with 3 AM repeats on other channels and then stop recording new episodes that I actually wanted.

31

Oh, and this:

I wouldn’t have been snotty if you hadn’t flown in here in a tizzy about the TiVo sucking. Next time, try it as a question, and people won’t be as rude about it.

Also,

It’s TIVO - Pick Programs to Record - Record by Time or Channel. That’s not buried.

As to the L&O Season Pass, erase any L&O Season Passes and / or WishLists you may have and try this for me:

TIVO - Pick Programs to Record - Search by Title - All Programs

Then enter Law, and see on your list what it says. I have 2 entries for Law and Order (8 WFLA [which is NBC] and 33 TNT). Select the one for your NBC affiliate, and hit Get a Season Pass.

That should record only the episodes on NBC. Every single show I record that airs on 2 or 3 channels – a surprising number, actually – has two entries on my Search by Title list.

32

InkBlot, I’ve played around with all of these options.

I’ve tried many variations, but they just don’t seem to do what they are supposed to most of the time. For instance, here is my Law and Order setup:

[ul]
[li]Record Quality Best[/li][li]Keep at Most 5 episodes[/li][li]Show Type First Run Only[/li][li]Keep Until When Space Needed[/li][li]Keep at Least ???[/li][li]Start Recording On-Time[/li][li]Stop Recording On-Time[/li][/ul]

I don’t think I have a “keep atleast” option on my Tivo. I’ll check tonight.

But, despite saying first run only it’s recording five repeats from TNT every day. (And that’s not even the channel I want.) It records five episodes and then it stops recording. It doesn’t overwrite the new episodes with old ones, as others are saying it should.

33

I am not using wish lists. I’m doing exactly what you say above. I’m picking the episode that I want on NBC with a season pass. It then records all episodes even those on other channels. Really. I’m not kidding.

34

Uh-oh. It sounds like somebody is getting snotty again.

If I just wanted to ask a question, I’d go to GQ and do just that. In this case, I felt like ranting about how Tivo sucks and asking some questions at the same time, so I went to the pit. The added bonus is that I can tell you what a snotty fuck you are.

Yes, it is. When I go to a show and click record, all the recording options should come up. By putting them in other menu spots they are burying them.

35

That’s more than a little weird. None of my (4, over the years and current) TiVos has ever done anything like that. You may want to try your questions over here, in the TiVo Community’s DirecTiVo forum. They are very helpful there. TiVo also keeps a very helpful website and their support is pretty good. You might wanna try them.

BTW, there’s also no Keep at Least setting, so don’t go wasting your time hunting around for it.

Yeah, but scheduling a manual recording by time or channel after selecting a specific show would be a little strange, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t want to hunt it down in the guide, hit select, and then have to enter the time and channel after having hunted for it; if you want to just record that specific episode, you hit Record this Showing, but that’s not what we mean by Record by Time or Channel. By Time or Channel’s for setting to record on channel 8 at 7:30 pm every Monday and Wednesday, or something like that.
This is the first time on the Dope that I’ve been called a “snotty fuck”, BTW. Closest I’ve come to a pitting.

36

Heh. If you want to really feel the heat go to any politically based pit thread and post a conservative thought.

37

I think not. Don’t have the patience for the political threads around here.

BTW, IRL I am a snotty fuck (much of the time) but I usually try to reel it in around here. My boss had just finished getting all ugly with me right before my first post here, so I got a little ugly with you, and for that I apologize. I actually do want to help you with the TiVo problems, because I’m something of a TiVo evangelist.

38

I’d agree with that. My understanding is, it’ll record 5 episodes and stop. It won’t delete them unless it needs space. That’s why there (ought) to be a Keep at Least along with your Keep at Most.

On the main issue, if you have First Run set, then it’s probably the network’s (TNT) fault. When they’re submitting their guide data, they’re either not flagging them as repeat episodes, or more likely just not providing any information. For example, I have an Season Pass for some old show on BBC America. It hasnt’ had any new episodes in ages, but sometimes BBCA forgets to provide info on the shows and I start recording a bunch of old ones. I figured it out in my Guide, when the description went from detailed info on episodes to “Home & Garden Show.”

Lastly, I understand your frustration at Manual Recordings not being more easily accessable. I’m all for season passes myself…love 'em. I’ll admit, I don’t view my TiVo as a digitial VCR, but still…sometimes I’d like to just hold the Record button on my remote and have it start, ya know, recording! Not guess what show I’m watching, or how long it will go on. Just start recording, and stop when I say to.

InkBlot
:eek:

39

If yours is doing that, then it’s acting funny too. It defaults to keeping the latest five episodes of whatever. In a marathon, or if you leave it for a month without watching, it should have only the last five episodes that aired, unless you change it to keep 10 or all or whatever. This is very strange.

40

Forgot to add: “… unless you have the Season Pass set as Keep Until I Delete, in which case it will record 5 episodes and not any more until you delete one of them by hand.”