TiVo Fall 2007 Update Apparently Breaks TivoToGo/Toast on the Mac

[Sluggo042-2 0]

I'm repeating some information here I placed in another thread, as well as a post I've made on the TiVo Help forums, but I would like to get as much comment as possible from others that may be seeing the same problem. Therefore, I'm starting a new thread with a more descriptive title. Roxio, if you're reading this, as an systems test engineer with some experience in testing set top boxes, I'd be happy to answer any questions you might have to help nail this problem down, or to test any possible solutions you might come up with.

 

The TiVo Fall 2007 Software Update was pushed onto my TiVo two days ago. Since that time, I have not been able to create DVDs from shows transferred to my Mac via the TiVo Transfer component of Roxio Toast. Program files still transfer to the Mac, although when viewed in the TiVo Transfer Library Window, the Title is garbled (the Title column shows what I believe is the unparsed file name rather than the actual show title), and no information appears in the Episode, Duration, and Channel columns.

 

When the Toast It command is invoked, Toast launches, and shows the Encoding window, but the process stalls at that point, and the progress bar shows no further progress. It sticks at 0% or 1% progress.

 

I suspect that TiVo is going to point fingers that this is a Roxio issue. But nothing has changed in my Roxio installation. This problem began the day I received notice that my TiVo has been updated. I strongly suspect that TiVo has modified the file format in some fashion that Toast is no longer able to decode. Given this premise, it sounds to me like TiVo failed to inform their partner Roxio that they would be changing their file format.

 

I do not believe this to be an isolated incident - there are others on the Roxio and TiVo boards reporting this problem. I suspect these reports will snowball as the Fall Update continues its rollout, and Mac users subsequently discover they are unable to use TiVo To Go.

 

Tivo Series 2

G4 Macintosh, OS X 10.4.9, Toast 8.0.1

 

Doug G.

[Sluggo042-2 0]

One quick addition: It would also probably be helpful if we knew if this was a universal problem. Is anyone out there who is (A) still successfully making DVDs using the TivoToGo process, and ( B ) knows for a fact that their TiVo has been upgraded with the Fall 2007 Software Update? Details might be helpful in figuring out a workaround, assuming one is possible.

 

Doug G.

Edited October 5, 2007 by Sluggo042-2

[kmitchell 0]

I'm having the same problems since the update was pushed Wednesday night. Just a guess that they changed the format of the metadata because I also have a transfer stuck between two Tivos, one of which got the update and one that hasn't yet.

[jimjar 0]

I am seeing the problem too...but not on all TV shows. I have successfully used Toast to transfer and burn at least some shows that were recorded after the TIVO update, but others hang at 0% or 1% through encoding.

 

So far I can't determine a pattern about which shows work and which don't.

 

All of the shows that I have transferred since the TIVO update have their display data messed up in TIVO to Go, even if they were recordrd on the TIVO weeks ago.

[kmitchell 0]

Has anyone opened a Help Ticket? That's really the only way to know for sure that Roxio knows about this. I just opened mine.

 

Ken

[bedelman 1]

It looks like the metadata stored inside the .tivo file has changed somewhat. This is causing some issues (like the hidden support for TiVoToComeBack in the videos tab in the TiVo Desktop for Mac OSX no longer seems to recognize these .tivo files). Also the data shown about the .tivo files in the TiVo Transfer file browser, doesn't show information in the correct columns

 

I am in the process of using the "expert" mode in Toast 8 to convert the file to an MPEG-4 which I'll try to handle with TiVo.NET for Mac OSX (although I've heard there's a problem there with the folder support in TiVo.NET now)

 

It looks like the changed metadata is going to need to be addressed by Roxio -- and TiVo will need to fix their Preference Pane. Although since the "videos" tab is a hidden feature in TiVo Desktop for Mac OSX, I would guess that they really don't have any requirement to do so.

 

- Bob

[galfridus73 0]

I, also, have the Fall 2007 update and broken TTG on my Mac. I have five auto transfers for season passes (four of which the TiVo recorded episodes for on 10/6) and none of them have transferred since the update.

 

Now, I do know that this change in the metadata is supposed to be something that is laying the groundwork for TTG and MRV on the Series3 machines next month... but why the broken app on my Mac?

[Sluggo042-2 0]

I, also, have the Fall 2007 update and broken TTG on my Mac. I have five auto transfers for season passes (four of which the TiVo recorded episodes for on 10/6) and none of them have transferred since the update.

 

Curious. I don't use autotransfer, so I've not encountered this aspect of the new bug. I do observe that the title parsed by Tivo Transfer now comes out wonky. If Tivo Transfer is looking for a specific title, and is no longer able to read that title properly because of the metadata change, then it follows that it wouldn't auto-transfer. From Tivo Transfer's perspective, it isn't seeing new instances of the targeted title, so there's nothing to transfer. I'll bet that you could still transfer those shows manually via TTG, though it wouldn't buy you anything - Toast still wouldn't be able to encode them for burning.

 

 

Now, I do know that this change in the metadata is supposed to be something that is laying the groundwork for TTG and MRV on the Series3 machines next month... but why the broken app on my Mac?

 

Also interesting. Might one ask where this information comes from? I've been assuming that Tivo just torpedoed Roxio by failing to inform them of the upcoming change of format to the metadata. But if there was a known major change planned shortly to be rolled out, perhaps they've got an update to Toast already planned to accomodate the change, but can't roll it out until the official release of Series3 support.

 

Of course, if anyone would actually tell us customers what was afoot, maybe we wouldn't have to speculate so much.

[glasd 0]

Consistent with what has been reported after the Tivo update

 

1. I can transfer from Tivo to my computer.

 

2. Toast will hang when you ask it to export the Tivo file.

 

3. Auto transfers not working. I did not try and recreate the auto transfer to see if it would work with a change in the program name.

 

I opened a ticket with support.

 

Interestingly, the free program Tivo Decode Manager will transfer and convert Tivo files after the Tivo update. So, why is it that a program that we paid for and for which we have a license will not work?

[John Q 0]

Since the Fall 2007 update my auto transfers don't work and downloading manually doesn't always work with the TiVo Transfer software on both my Series 2 unit and Pioneer DVR-810H.

 

Some file transfers simply just stick at "0 of x.x GB - waiting" message and i have to keep attempting to stop and restarting it. Sometimes restarting the TiVo seems to help.

 

Those that do work the file names are not as usual, i.e. looks something like: "Bionic_Woman_USA_1191707998.TiVo" instead of just "Bionic Woman". The Format now says MPEG-2 instead of TiVo.

 

-John Q.

[mrshulcslt 0]

I am seeing the problem too...but not on all TV shows. I have successfully used Toast to transfer and burn at least some shows that were recorded after the TIVO update, but others hang at 0% or 1% through encoding.

 

So far I can't determine a pattern about which shows work and which don't.

 

All of the shows that I have transferred since the TIVO update have their display data messed up in TIVO to Go, even if they were recordrd on the TIVO weeks ago.

 

I'm experiencing the same set of problems. Some shows seem to burn with no problem, others not.

[nokin 0]

Same problem since I got the TiVo Fall update yesterday. I can no longer export shows I transferred from the TiVo since the update. Older transfers can be exported. I notice that the channel for newly transferred shows is listed as "n/a." Old and new shows can be viewed on the TiVo viewer. The only reason I use TiVo-to-Go is to export (using Popcorn 3) to an iTunes format (iPhone, Apple TV, etc). Now it is broken.

[Bmel 0]

Same problem. I was able to download 4 programs and view them but i have only been able to transfer one of them to ipod format.

 

Tivo Decode Manager works? Maybe I can get my money back from roxio. I oly boought toast 8 and popcorn for this function.

[Lancer 0]

I'm having the same problems too. Right after the Fall update my auto transfers stopped working, any new shows recorded can transfer to my mac, but I can't burn or copy to my iPod. I can delete the old auto transfers and create new ones that do work, but there's no point since I can't do anything with them. I really hope they fix this soon.

[John Q 0]

Lancer, ah! good tip (recreating the auto transfers). That will help me. - John Q.

[Bringo 0]

Same problems here. As of the Fall Update, I no longer can successfully transfer files from my TiVos to my Mac. :-(

[yalbdam 0]

I posted this over at the TiVo Forums but maybe Toast user/fixers would like to know too.

 

 

I'm having the exact same problem. The transfers from the TiVo to Roxio TiVo Transfer work fine except for the garbled title and nothing in the other columns. When I click on "Toast It" It sticks at 0%.

 

I did fine a BAD work around. If you go to "More" "Encoding" change the Reencoding to "Never". This worked for DVD-Videos anyway. Although the audio is off which makes it kinda useless.

 

I have a Tivo Series 2, 20" iMac G5 with OS X 10.4.9 and Toast 8.0.1. And I did get the TiVo Fall Update on Oct. 5th. When it appears things started to mess up. Hopefully TiVo and Roxio are reading these posts and are working on the problem?

[patatrox 12]

I posted this over at the TiVo Forums but maybe Toast user/fixers would like to know too.

I'm having the exact same problem. The transfers from the TiVo to Roxio TiVo Transfer work fine except for the garbled title and nothing in the other columns. When I click on "Toast It" It sticks at 0%.

 

I did fine a BAD work around. If you go to "More" "Encoding" change the Reencoding to "Never". This worked for DVD-Videos anyway. Although the audio is off which makes it kinda useless.

 

I have a Tivo Series 2, 20" iMac G5 with OS X 10.4.9 and Toast 8.0.1. And I did get the TiVo Fall Update on Oct. 5th. When it appears things started to mess up. Hopefully TiVo and Roxio are reading these posts and are working on the problem?

 

My TiVo was updated last night with the new service update and I'm seeing the same issue.

 

Since I could only recreate the issue for the first time last night, I don't have an update yet but it will be fixed as soon as possible.

[Lancer 0]

Has anyone been able to find any official word from TiVo or Roxio on the situation? Has anyone called and spoken to anyone? I can't find anything. I would hope they would recognize the issue and let us know what they are going to do to fix it. The only reason I bought Toast was to transfer shows to my iPod and now that's impossible.

[Sluggo042-2 0]

Has anyone been able to find any official word from TiVo or Roxio on the situation? Has anyone called and spoken to anyone? I can't find anything. I would hope they would recognize the issue and let us know what they are going to do to fix it.

 

The post immediately before your own in this thread was from a Roxio guy. They've acknowledged the problem, and report a fix is in the works.

[glasd 0]

In response to a ticket posted with Roxio support:

 

"Thank you for contacting Roxio Technical Support

 

We have confirmed that recent TiVo Fall 2007 Software Update for the TiVo unit has caused the TiVo files not appearing correctly in the TiVo Transfer window and burning to DVD stuck at 0% or 1%.

 

We have provided the information to TiVo and are currently working on a fix for the issue and will provide an update on our website as soon as we can.

 

Thanks for contacting Roxio Customer Care. Let us know if you need further assistance on this issue by clicking the Update button.

 

 

Regards,

Roxio Technical Support"

[NYC Mac User 0]

I have had the exact same issue, as described in the original posting. Very frustrating, as the only reason I purchased Toast was for the Tivo Transfer feature.

 

 

Just saw reply from customer support-- looking forward to the fix, thanks.

[pat_bnnit 0]

One quick addition: It would also probably be helpful if we knew if this was a universal problem. Is anyone out there who is (A) still successfully making DVDs using the TivoToGo process, and ( B ) knows for a fact that their TiVo has been upgraded with the Fall 2007 Software Update? Details might be helpful in figuring out a workaround, assuming one is possible.

 

Doug G.

 

 

I am experiencing the same problems: unable to export to iPod; can't burn DVDs - stuck at 0%.

[MikeBuck57 0]

Same deal here, Fall 2007 update proudly displayed on the Tivo, and the transfers all hang at 0%.

 

I really hope someone is listening here, as this is why I bought the 8.0 product for the TTG.

 

Thanks,

 

Mike Buckley

[cpmomcat 0]

I downloaded Tivo Decode Manager, to see if I could use it while this problem with Toast/Tivo gets fixed, but I can't get it to work. Don't know why - maybe I'm just not technically smart enough.

 

Consistent with what has been reported after the Tivo update

 

1. I can transfer from Tivo to my computer.

 

2. Toast will hang when you ask it to export the Tivo file.

 

3. Auto transfers not working. I did not try and recreate the auto transfer to see if it would work with a change in the program name.

 

I opened a ticket with support.

 

Interestingly, the free program Tivo Decode Manager will transfer and convert Tivo files after the Tivo update. So, why is it that a program that we paid for and for which we have a license will not work?

[MikeBuck57 0]

I downloaded Tivo Decode Manager, to see if I could use it while this problem with Toast/Tivo gets fixed, but I can't get it to work. Don't know why - maybe I'm just not technically smart enough.

 

Take the file downloaded from the tivo (use the web interface), and drag it over and drop it on the applescript file.

 

You should see the spinner cursor for a while, and after a while, you will have the raw mpg file. Now you can do something with that, view it, or whatever.

 

Also the tivo viewer as part of the roxio distribution should be able to play the original file downloaded from the tivo.

 

Good luck!

 

Mike