Can an out-of subscription Tivo still do MRV?

First time Poster, lurked here for more than two years, so I feel like
I know you folks.
I don't believe my main question has come up before.
I have a Series2 (single tuner) in the bedroom, networked to the other
two Tivo's in the household. This box had a lifetime subscription
which was transfered to a Series3 box last June, and is running on the
1 yr 'courtesy-subscription' soon to run out soon. There are no
important SP on it, and it basically is only used for transfering SD
material from the other Tivos w/ expanded drives, to be watched from
the bedroom. Question: If I disable it from calling home just before
its expiration, will it continue to network to the other tivos? Will
it complain constantly that it has no guide info? Will it still tune
manually to the cable channel line-up? Will it do a manual recording
if asked to in real-time, (just not in the future)?
thanx in advance
-b

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:02:06 -0700 (PDT), "bw.vidmaster"
wrote:

First time Poster, lurked here for more than two years, so I feel like
I know you folks.
I don't believe my main question has come up before.
I have a Series2 (single tuner) in the bedroom, networked to the other
two Tivo's in the household. This box had a lifetime subscription
which was transfered to a Series3 box last June, and is running on the
1 yr 'courtesy-subscription' soon to run out soon. There are no
important SP on it, and it basically is only used for transfering SD
material from the other Tivos w/ expanded drives, to be watched from
the bedroom. Question: If I disable it from calling home just before
its expiration, will it continue to network to the other tivos?

No.

Will
it complain constantly that it has no guide info?

No, only occasionally.

Will it still tune
manually to the cable channel line-up?

Yes.

Will it do a manual recording if asked to in real-time, (just not in the future)?

Yes and scheduled channel/time recordings as well. It will also retain the
last 30 minutes of current programs for pausing or playback.

thanx in advance
-b

Previously recorded material will start playing garbled but Fast Forward or
Fast Back and then Play will restore normal playback.

"bw.vidmaster" shaped the electrons to say:
the bedroom. Question: If I disable it from calling home just before
its expiration, will it continue to network to the other tivos?

No. It will continue to work for a short period, I think a week or
two, then it will stop. Basically there is a grace period but once it
stops being able to check the account status, and then it ends.

Will it complain constantly that it has no guide info?

Not constantly, but periodically.

Will it still tune manually to the cable channel line-up?

Yes.

Will it do a manual recording if asked to in real-time, (just not in
the future)? thanx in advance -b

No. Series2 boxes won't do any recording without a subscription.

-MZ
--
megazone-at-megazone.org http://www.MegaZone.org/ Gweep, Geek, Human, me.
http://www.GizmoLovers.com/ http://www.Eyrie-Productions.com/ -- Hail Eris
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171

On Tue, 8 Apr 2008 07:11:31 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:

"bw.vidmaster" shaped the electrons to say:
the bedroom. Question: If I disable it from calling home just before
its expiration, will it continue to network to the other tivos?

No. It will continue to work for a short period, I think a week or
two, then it will stop. Basically there is a grace period but once it
stops being able to check the account status, and then it ends.

Will it complain constantly that it has no guide info?

Not constantly, but periodically.

Will it still tune manually to the cable channel line-up?

Yes.

Will it do a manual recording if asked to in real-time, (just not in
the future)? thanx in advance -b

No. Series2 boxes won't do any recording without a subscription.


This is not true in all Series 2. Our difference in experience may be due
to whether the unit has accessed Tivo service to realize that the
subscription has actually expired. Don't allow your unit to check in with
Tivo after the subscription has expired.

I can still record the currently viewed program or by time/channel.


-MZ

NoSpam shaped the electrons to say:
This is not true in all Series 2. Our difference in experience may be due
to whether the unit has accessed Tivo service to realize that the
subscription has actually expired. Don't allow your unit to check in with
Tivo after the subscription has expired.

You have a Series2 unit that has continued to work without a
subscription? That's remarkable.

The way it has always worked is that it has a timer and it defaults to
DISABLING the service if it can't confirm it is valid. It presumes it
is invalid if denied the ability to call home. I just don't recall
how long the period is. It may vary depending on the type of
subscription.

If you have a Pioneer or Toshiba unit it will fail-back to TiVo Basic.

-MZ
--
megazone-at-megazone.org http://www.MegaZone.org/ Gweep, Geek, Human, me.
http://www.GizmoLovers.com/ http://www.Eyrie-Productions.com/ -- Hail Eris
"A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-852-2171

On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:24:59 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:

NoSpam shaped the electrons to say:
This is not true in all Series 2. Our difference in experience may be due
to whether the unit has accessed Tivo service to realize that the
subscription has actually expired. Don't allow your unit to check in with
Tivo after the subscription has expired.

You have a Series2 unit that has continued to work without a
subscription? That's remarkable.

The way it has always worked is that it has a timer and it defaults to
DISABLING the service if it can't confirm it is valid. It presumes it
is invalid if denied the ability to call home.

Nope, ain't so now in the case of our Series 2....

Perhaps the Tivo policy/protocol has changed. Our Series 2 complains about
not having a program update whenever you do something but it absolutely
will record the current program to support pause and pIayback and will
record by time (weekly, weekend, this day each week, etc) and channel.
Crude but still operational.

It also will playback previous recordings.

Our full regular subscription expired many months ago but we never allowed
our unit to know it. That seems to be the difference.

how long the period is. It may vary depending on the type of
subscription.

If you have a Pioneer or Toshiba unit it will fail-back to TiVo Basic.

-MZ

On 2008-04-12, NoSpam wrote:
On Fri, 11 Apr 2008 23:24:59 +0000 (UTC),
(MegaZone) wrote:

NoSpam shaped the electrons to say:
This is not true in all Series 2. Our difference in experience may be due
to whether the unit has accessed Tivo service to realize that the
subscription has actually expired. Don't allow your unit to check in with
Tivo after the subscription has expired.

You have a Series2 unit that has continued to work without a
subscription? That's remarkable.

The way it has always worked is that it has a timer and it defaults to
DISABLING the service if it can't confirm it is valid. It presumes it
is invalid if denied the ability to call home.

Nope, ain't so now in the case of our Series 2....

What model do you have?

--
This is my .sig

On 12 Apr 2008 22:33:49 GMT, Howard wrote:

NoSpam wrote in
:

Nope, ain't so now in the case of our Series 2....

Perhaps the Tivo policy/protocol has changed. Our Series 2 complains
about not having a program update whenever you do something but it
absolutely will record the current program to support pause and pIayback
and will record by time (weekly, weekend, this day each week, etc) and
channel. Crude but still operational.

I don't need, nor is it wise to tell, your entire number. But what are
the first three numbers of your TSN?

540

By the way in the information screen it still shows "Account in Good
Standing". The last successful update was in October.

On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:25:44 -0500, NoSpam wrote:

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:02:06 -0700 (PDT), "bw.vidmaster"
wrote:



Previously recorded material will start playing garbled but Fast Forward or
Fast Back and then Play will restore normal playback.

I didn't notice this problem with my series 2 which I used for months
without a subscripion. I killed everything when I tried guided setup.
It deleted all of my shows and disabled the record function but the delay
fast forward still works. I tried calling tivo about activation but they
wanted a one year contract which I don't see how they can delivery with HD
starting up in Feb 09.

mike wrote:
On Tue, 08 Apr 2008 00:25:44 -0500, NoSpam wrote:

On Mon, 7 Apr 2008 22:02:06 -0700 (PDT), "bw.vidmaster"
wrote:


Previously recorded material will start playing garbled but Fast Forward or
Fast Back and then Play will restore normal playback.

I didn't notice this problem with my series 2 which I used for months
without a subscripion. I killed everything when I tried guided setup.
It deleted all of my shows and disabled the record function but the delay
fast forward still works. I tried calling tivo about activation but they
wanted a one year contract which I don't see how they can delivery with HD
starting up in Feb 09.


All existing TiVo DVRs won't become obsolete next year.
HD has already started up. Digital broadcasting allows Standard
Definition as well as High Definition.

The OTA shift will be to digital service which many cable companies
along with Dish Network and DirecTV are now delivering.