Target Machine Actively Refused Connection

[wbc99]

When transferring shows to my PC, the transfer starts and usually gets about 10 - 20 percent complete and then stops. The error message says that a connection could not be made because the target machine actively refused it. Does anyone know what the deal is and how to fix it? TIA.

[wbc99]

No one?

[jkwhalen]

I am having the same problem. I do have my TiVo's on a wireless network that has been working fine for several months (both downloading OK and being able to transfer shows from one box to another - even if it is quite slow).

Any help on this one?

John

[alyssa]

Me too

I've been transfering shows with no problems then all of a sudden ... "an existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host'

wired network, I'm guessing it's a hardware issue on the 'bad' tivo end since I can still transfer from my other tivo.

edited to add; rebooted & the 'bad' tivo seems to be tranfering

[CrispyCritter]

MY theory, but nobody has substantiated it yet (or disproven it), is that the actively refused message comes after the TiVo has lost its DHCP lease and changes IP addresses. For some adapter/router combinations the IP addresses change very frequently on the TiVo, and nobody has figured out why. That's why things seem to work again after rebooting the TiVo; it acquires a brand-new fresh lease.

If you're having the problem, could you keep an eye on the TiVo IP address (Phone and Network settings screen)?

Note that if it is an IP changing problem, a workaround would be to go to a static IP address on the TiVo.

[Virt]

MY theory, but nobody has substantiated it yet (or disproven it), is that the actively refused message comes after the TiVo has lost its DHCP lease and changes IP addresses. For some adapter/router combinations the IP addresses change very frequently on the TiVo, and nobody has figured out why. That's why things seem to work again after rebooting the TiVo; it acquires a brand-new fresh lease.

If that IS the case, then it would be a Router/Firewall issue. Double check your router settings. WinXP user should be sure to also open WinXP Firewall rules (especially SP2 users).

I'd also be sure the ports that TiVo uses are open in your router, software firewall (Panda, Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm, BlackIce, etc) and also WinXP Firewall (if activated - especially SP2 users):

TCP Port 2190
UDP Port 2190
TCP Ports 8080-8089

http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2161.htm

Lastly, I would also make sure to visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and be sure that you have the latest .NET updates.

Microsoft AntiSpyware users should also be sure to allow the TiVo programs access to the Internet/LAN/WAN. SpyBot Search and Destory users need to also allow the TiVo programs to make registry changes and allow access.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2003-36%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=%22Target+Machine+Actively+Refused+Connection%22

[CrispyCritter]

If that IS the case, then it would be a Router/Firewall issue. Double check your router settings. WinXP user should be sure to also open WinXP Firewall rules (especially SP2 users).

I'd also be sure the ports that TiVo uses are open in your router, software firewall (Panda, Norton, McAfee, ZoneAlarm, BlackIce, etc) and also WinXP Firewall (if activated - especially SP2 users):

TCP Port 2190
UDP Port 2190
TCP Ports 8080-8089

http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv2161.htm

Lastly, I would also make sure to visit http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com and be sure that you have the latest .NET updates.

Microsoft AntiSpyware users should also be sure to allow the TiVo programs access to the Internet/LAN/WAN. SpyBot Search and Destory users need to also allow the TiVo programs to make registry changes and allow access.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&c2coff=1&rls=GGLD%2CGGLD%3A2003-36%2CGGLD%3Aen&q=%22Target+Machine+Actively+Refused+Connection%22
Your suggestions are excellent, and should be the things looked at first. But I'm suspicious of things at a lower level. Both wireless hardware (and firmware on the wireless hardware) and linux wireless/USB drivers are still not mature; they're evolving too rapidly. I can see, for instance, a TiVo trying to reset something on the adapter because of excessive congestion/interference/ corruption/non-responsiveness, and during the reset process, good information might not get to the router in the proper timing sequence (eg the TiVo MAC, causing the router to assign a new IP address). This is based on looking at problems in the immature Linux wired ethernet drivers over 10 years ago; I haven't ever looked at wireless/USB drivers.

There's been too many people here who've reported solving their wireless problems by just going to a static IP addresss. Something strange is going on for those few people.

[gschlact]

I do have Fixed IP address for my whole network including the Tivo machine. I am having both problems - either
1. The Tivo starts to download to PC and then "actively refuses connection"
or
2. message: an existing connection was forcibly closed by the remote host'

What is the deal?

-Guy

[ryandelany]

I was having the same problem last night when I was trying to download shows before a trip I was taking. What I noticed was that if I had the Network settings page on the TV screen, and I started a download from the Tivo desktop, a few minutes would pass and all of a sudden the Tivo would lose the IP address and request a different one.

I suspect that there is a bug on the Tivo itself where it drops the connection and requests a new IP. If the Tivo receives the same IP it had from the DHCP server (which it should because that is how DHCP works when the lease time has not expired), the Tivo rejects it and requests another IP address. This is what ultimately causes the problem.

I also noticed that you will get the "... tivo is busy transferring another show..." until you reboot the Tivo. I hope that Tivo can get on this and fix it!

I solved the issue by assigning a static IP to the Tivo. Afterwards, I was able to download non-stop through the night without a single problem. So in a nutshell, the solution should be to set a static IP... if that doesn't work, you have other issues.

Ryan

[CrispyCritter]

I was having the same problem last night when I was trying to download shows before a trip I was taking. What I noticed was that if I had the Network settings page on the TV screen, and I started a download from the Tivo desktop, a few minutes would pass and all of a sudden the Tivo would lose the IP address and request a different one. ...
I solved the issue by assigning a static IP to the Tivo. Afterwards, I was able to download non-stop through the night without a single problem. So in a nutshell, the solution should be to set a static IP... if that doesn't work, you have other issues. Yes, that's the sort of behavior that others have seen, but more explicit in your case. Thanks for posting!

Could you post your adapter and router models, so that we can start watching out for particular hardware that might cause problems?

[Stu_Bee]

I suddenly starting getting the same issue...thanks to previous posters I changed my Tivo to a static IP Address and it seems to have cleared up.

Strangely my Router (Linksys) settings had at some point changed to only give a 1 minute lease for DHCP addresses. Maybe this happened during a Firmware upgrade of the Router...odd, but would explain why Tivo may have kept dropping connections during the transfers.

[evancg]

I'm having this same problem, and whether I'm using a static IP address or not, it doesn't transfer. I've been transfering from two different tivos to two different computers with no problems until now. I've only been able to try out one of my Tivos, but both computers give the same error. I've restarted the tivo (unplugged from the wall and everything), reset the router, uninstalled and wiped clean tivo desktop...just keep getting the same error. Hoping it's something annoying that'll just work itself out in a day or two, cause I'm running out of ideas.

On a hopefully unrelated note, my recording of the Simpsons at 8pm on Sunday the 13th didn't record sound, yet arrested development directly after and whatever it was recording directly before both recorded with sound just fine.

[bmillsap]

Add me to the list, it's been working fine until now and suddenly we can't transfer shows to either of our computers. Everything else works fine, including viewing music & photos on the TiVo. Haven't tried restarting the TiVo yet since it's recording.

[evancg]

Update to my previous post, it turns out that something about that simpsons was causing problems. The one that had no sound. Tivotogo transfers would work until it tried to do that one. Deleted it, restarted, no problems since.

[zornwil]

I all of a sudden out of nowhere also started having issues like this a few days ago. Seems to have started just after the last software update, though I really am specuating, note "seems".

[piper]

I had no problems at all until I installed the TiVo server software on my laptop in addition to my desktop.

Now my TiVo 'actively refuses' my connections. Networking software that doesn't work over more than one PC?

I know a lot of people really love their TiVos but the software that came with 7.1 is a joke.

[zornwil]

I had no problems at all until I installed the TiVo server software on my laptop in addition to my desktop.

Now my TiVo 'actively refuses' my connections. Networking software that doesn't work over more than one PC?

I know a lot of people really love their TiVos but the software that came with 7.1 is a joke.
Yes, there is some relationship there, you're right. Essentialy it's best never ot have more than one machine in your house with a Tivo server.

No comment on the joke, I've said enough already.

[zornwil]

PS - I also just went ahead and bought a setup to transfer VHS to my computer without futzing with Tivo. Sick of it, it worked like crap with video, errant file downloads, constant and unpredictable problems with downloads being utterly screwed up and so on. It seems better for TV shows, not 100%, but at least acceptable, like 95% or something. For VHS recorded into the Tivo it's literally a 33%-50% error rate, still, of getting something that can't be used.

[mhurley]

Add me to the list to. This is a sudden "new" development, say in the last week. Prior to this, I've been transferring TTG files just fine. Now suddenly, "Connection actively refused". The IP of the Tivo has never changed.

I queued of 5 episodes of Stars Wars Clone Wars to transfer overnight. 2 of them made it fine and the problem started with the 3rd.

Wireless network here...If I force a connection off the Tivo, it connects just fine, so I know it's getting to the network.

Very frustrating. :mad:

[kohlerp]

Add me to the list also. This is a sudden "new" development, say in the last week or two. Prior to this, I've been transferring TTG files just fine. Now suddenly, "Connection actively refused". The IP of the Tivo has never changed.

I can't transfer anything now. Prior to this, I transferred at least 50 programs, now all of the sudden, I can't transfer a thing. Thus my TiVo drive is filling up.

Wireless network here as well. I'll try the static IP to see if that makes a difference. Very confusing, and of course, very frustrating.

[kohlerp]

Take me off the list, for now, I found after reading these threads and the ones on TiVo Support, a suggestion about the IP address. So I started a transfer and checked, as soon as TTG told me that the transfer was delayed, I checked my router and found the IP address had changed. So I asigned my TiVo a static IP and starting transferring files and the problem has gone away. So, I suggest, going to a static IP for anyone still troubled by this issue. Although I am still troubled that what caused it start in the first place. My TTG was working fine for quite some time, then it stopped.

[adamk]

Perhaps someone with more time than me can check this:

I have seen this same problem happen whether I am using a static or DHCP address. My theory, from my experience is that the TIVO does not realize that the DESKTOP has stopped receiving the transfer (if you kill the DESKTOP without stopping the transfer). So next time you run DESKTOP, it thinks there is already a transfer in effect. Therefore, the only way to reset this flag in the TIVO is to reboot it, which seems to work every time, albeit pretty annoying.

What compounds the problem is that if you have a few items in the queue, you can't stop the transfer without a new one immediately starting over.

If I am correct, I would like to make a few suggestions to the developers:

1) Put a built-in timeout in the TIVO transfer utility, so if it does not hear back from the DESKTOP within a certain amount of time, it will automatically reset its "transfer status"

2) Put a "pause transfer" command in the DESKTOP, which can be set-true by the user, and is also automatically transmitted to the TIVO when the user chooses to exit from the DESKTOP. This will clear the "transfer-status" on the TIVO side, and make it not cause a problem next time you run the DESKTOP.

Any feedback from more informed people is appreciated.

Thanks,
Adam

[estilein]

Wanted to add my name to the list. I'd been able to record over a 100 hours using my TiVo To Go, from both my TiVo Series 2 DVRs. Transferred some files before I went on vacation. Came back and wanted to clear out some space to record more, and began getting the "No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it" error message.

After reading the postings in the forum, I set a static IP on one of the DVRs to see if it made a difference. I've tried disabling my local firewall. I tried another PC (even though having two TiVo servers on the same network wasn't recommended - I figured if the one wasn't working, it was worth trying). I reset the DVRs and the PCs. Nothing seems to have made any difference.

I have a wireless network in the house using a Linksys router, however both DVRs are connected via wired connections because I read that would give me faster transfer speeds.

Need other ideas to try. Please?

[petew]

Have you rebooted the Tivos?

[estilein]

Yes, I rebooted (called it "reset" in my posting) both the TiVos and the PCs. Have done it several times, in fact.

[estilein]

I asked a friend who is good at networking and security to help me troubleshoot. He was also unable to resolve the issue. Did have one question that I couldn't answer: which machine is the "target" machine? (Needs to know which one needs the troubleshooting.) IMO, the PC is the target since that's the one being "sent to" and I can see the list of episodes on both DVRs, but I wasn't certain. He thought the TiVo might be it since all the solutions revolved around changing one of its settings. He checked the security settings on the PC and said none of the required ports are being blocked. Any ideas about what else I need to check on my PC?

Thanks!

[petew]

"No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it"

I would interpret this as meaning the remote machine, the one that is not initiating the connection.

At what point are you getting the error. When you try to view available recordings or when you attempt to start a transfer.

Have you tried connecting directly to the web server as descirbed in this thread http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?threadid=215838


Also have you checked system information to see if TivoToGo is still enabled.

Finally if you have or can install netmon on your PC and can capture the IP traffic between your PC and the Tivo box I can review the log and compare it to some captures I collected from my own system.

[g35tr]

Wow, just started getting this proplem myself this morning.

[estilein]

I get the error after it begins trying to do the transfer. Starts, but about 15-20 seconds in, it fails. So far, viewing has not been a problem.

Thanks for the link to the other thread! I was able to successfully download and view one of the shows that way. Kind of interesting though, it didn't ask me for my playback password, which is fine since I'm the only one with access to the PC, but still interesting. This will be a slower method since I can only do one show at a time, but I can do it from anywhere! The GUI of TTG makes things more convenient, but if it's not working, then it doesn't do me any good. :)

When you say "have you checked system information to see if TivoToGo is still enabled", I'm not sure what you mean. The TiVo Server is activated as are transfers for both units.

I'll see what I can do about getting netmon going, but for now can live with the alternate method of downloading. Thanks for your help!

[Tres]

I've been having this problem as well for about 2 weeks now.. Going to try making static IP tonight, but I doubt it will work since my tivo always has the same IP all the time anyway.. Mine will transfer about 38MB till it has problems and moves on to the next show. then at some point that one will have problems as well.. I notice it happens alot faster when tivo starts or stops recording somthing. Anyone else notice that?

[petew]

If TivoToGo is not enabled on the Tivo unit the webserver does not start and transfers will not be possible by any method. If the HTTPS transfer method works then the problem is most likely with Tivo Desktop on your PC.

What spec is your PC, how full is your disk? What else is active when you try and transfer?

[Tres]

Trying HTTPS right now, so far so good.. but.. will it open?? How does it know what my password is going to be?


****UPDATE** the transfer went smoothly and relativly quick... When I opened the file it played find and did not ask for a password...

Tried uninstalling Tivo desktop **again** and still stops abouy 80mb into the transfer.... then crashes...

[estilein]

Hi Pete,

I've got a Compaq nc6000 (M processor, 1.70 GHz, 592 MHz) laptop with 512 MB RAM, running Windows XP, SP2. I've tried to store to an external drive that has about 35 GB free as well as the local drive that has about 40 GB free. I've also tried my other machine which is only a Pentium III, 796 MHz with 384 MB RAM, running Win2K, SP4. It's only got about 6 GB free, but I was planning on using the external drive exclusively if I could get it running again on either machine.

I've had multiple things open, and have also done a reboot and had TTG be the only thing running. Makes no difference.

I believe I already mentioned that I've tried uninstalling TTG, but did not go digging around in the registry to remove all the entries, and reinstalling. When I did that, it did NOT ask me about whether or not I had a firewall the way it did the first time (this is something the instructions say it's supposed to do). I've tried connecting both with and without the software firewall, but am not up for moving my desk to disconnect it from the hardware one.

emj

[petew]

emj,

Since you can transfer shows using HTTPS but not from Tivo Desktop is sounds like the builtin firewall in Windoze XP SP2 is permitting your web browser to make outbound connections but not Tivo Desktop. There's no way an external firewall could make this differentiation so it must be within your desktop. Can you retry disabling the builtin Windows SP2 firewall or at least configure so TivoDesktop has full access, sorry I don't have SP2 on my own system so I can't comment on how to do it. But this document from MSFT might help:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=a7628646-131d-4617-bf68-f0532d8db131&displaylang=en


Pete

[cjh4090]

I had intermittent success downloading with TTG. I've had my TiVo for about 2 months now, and I've never had any period of consistent performance. My first 15 attempts failed until I read every post I could find here and on Tivo. Then I tried the web interface, which timed out every time I tried (3x). I have a wireless connection from my TiVo to my Linksys WRT54G router, and a wired connection to my PC. I set up static IPs, opened ports, disabled XP firewall, verified I was getting a good signal, reduced the probability of interference by downloading in the dead of night, checked TiVo transfer settings, etc... just got the error again today.

I've discovered that resetting the router (by unplugging it for a few seconds) allows the transfer to continue after getting a "target machine actively refused it" error, no rebooting of PC or TiVo necessary. So maybe the problem lies with the router? Not the particular model (other people have had the same problem with different equipment), but some setting somewhere that hasn't been discovered?

[greg_burns]

I had intermittent success downloading with TTG.

...and a wired connection to my PC.

Something else to try...

Do you have one of the nforce 3 motherboards? see this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2621609&&#post2621609)

[timber12]

I had the "target machine actively refused it" error out of the blue. It would happen immediately, wouldn't even attempt to transfer the file. I found that it was Zonealarm (firewall software) causing the issue. Haven't checked to see what exactly the cause was, I just disabled the software and it is now transferring fine.

Hope this helps.

[NJJohnny]

Can anyone provide a quick primer on setting a static IP using a Linksys Wireless router? I am not sure what to put in for the router address and the DNS server since all I know is the IP and the subnet. If I try to put the router address in from the cable company, it barks at me about the IP not matching the TiVo's IP or something like that.

[greg_burns]

Can anyone provide a quick primer on setting a static IP using a Linksys Wireless router? I am not sure what to put in for the router address and the DNS server since all I know is the IP and the subnet. If I try to put the router address in from the cable company, it barks at me about the IP not matching the TiVo's IP or something like that.

Your gateway address is the address of your router. See this thread for how to get your DNS settings.


http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3072946&&#post3072946

[JSBTN]

I had the same problem but shut down Zone Alarm and had no further problem.

[zornwil]

Trying HTTPS right now, so far so good.. but.. will it open?? How does it know what my password is going to be?


****UPDATE** the transfer went smoothly and relativly quick... When I opened the file it played find and did not ask for a password...

Tried uninstalling Tivo desktop **again** and still stops abouy 80mb into the transfer.... then crashes...

I've found some files (shows) just won't download, period, they seem to get corrupted somehow. I've pretty much just given up on the whole thing, too many erratic, inconsistent issues. Sad. At least I guess it's worth what it's paid for...

On a more positive note, I am using an old Tivo as part of a signal chain in archiving video to digital storage.

As to TivoToGo...I'm just hoping for the best and avoiding it until then or until I complete video archival, at which point I'll just do something you can't talk about on the boards to get shows off of it. Really sad and left a very bad taste in my mouth for this company.

[estilein]

OK. I'm back again. I've been using the solution you all suggested at http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?threadid=215838, but it's getting old. I move too many shows to do them one at a time. I want my TiVoToGo back, so I can set it up to transfer multiple shows at once! :)

Summary of my situation:
Have two Series 2 DVRs, hard wired through a Linksys router. Both have static IP addresses. I have tried running TTG with my Sygate Security Agent both disabled and enabled. I've had my security settings checked by a friend who does that sort of thing for a living, and he's assured me that I have the ports available.

Have tried running the TiVo server on an HP Omnibook 6000 (Pentium III, 796 MHz with 384 MB RAM, running Win2K, SP4) and on a Compaq nc6000 (M processor, 1.70 GHz, 592 MHz) laptop with 512 MB RAM, running Windows XP, SP2). Both have plenty of local disk space. I've also tried to store to an external drive. The Windows firewall has not been enabled since I already have a software and a hardware firewall.

I have uninstalled TTG via Add/Remove Programs and then reinstalled. Wasn't asked about whether or not there was a firewall on the reinstall. Have uninstalled again and then gone through the registry and removed everything tivo before reinstalling. No difference.

My problem occurs about 15-30 seconds after beginning he download. Doesn't matter which PC I use, nor from which DVR I try to download.

Any additional suggestions for getting the TiVoToGo to work again? Is there a trick to the reinstall to get the app to recognize the firewall? Are there some other settings that I need to make sure to check? Help?

Thanks!

[kevinarth]

I probably shouldn't be posting against this thread because my symptoms appear to be slightly different and I'm pretty new to Tivo. However, I thought I'd offer my 2c.


I started suddenly getting the error message something like:
a connection could not be made because the target machine actively refused it.

However, after searching the forums, I checked my IP address. it hasn't changed since my initial setup. I was also given the idea to try the web interface. I couldn't access "Now Playing" via the web either.

I didn't want to reset Tivo because I was recording at the time. I simply yanked out the NIC; gave it 30 seconds to contemplate life; plugged it back in and gave it a minute or two to initialize and the problem went away.

Sucks that you have to do this, but it beats resetting tivo boxes and routers.

Hope this helps some small subset of users. It seems that TTG is very unreliable. I hope Tivo is working on stability for the next release.

[jensenjb]

My Humax DRT800 has a constant problem with the TMARC message. However, I purchased a 40hr Tivo branded model for my bedroom and have not had any problems for over two weeks. The only other difference is that the new Tivo also has the Tivo branded wireless adapter as opposed the dlink on the Humax.

I'm not sure what this adds but someone more knowledgeable than I might be able to piece something together.

As an aside, the Humax has been flaky since day 1, typically resetting itself a couple of times a week (usually while recording a 24 episode!) for about a year. (If the hard drive is dying, it is sure taking its time!) The TMARC message occurs during times that the Humax is running.

[TivoJunkie43]

Add me to the list of those who have had this TMARC Message. In the past i've always just deleted the file, chalking it up to some tivo bug. I suspect that Tivo update is somehow interrupting Tivo transfers, but I have nothing to back that up.

The few times I have had ann interrupted transfer with the TMARC message the file which is interrupted is unable to be downloaded once a connection is made again, or is this just me? What i mean is the file is flagged, and unable to be resumed/downloaded, because there is no longer any title information.

At first I thought this may be a corrupted tivo file issue, but I had the same thing happen this week, and although I wasn't able to DL it to the other computer, I was able to transfer it using this computer with no problems.

I think this has only happened when I was DLing many files at once, and I think others here have mentioned similar circumstances.

I have two computers and a Tivo box, on a wired network using a linksys router.

I still think it's the tivo box refusing the connection, but what do I know? :confused:

[greg_burns]

I still think it's the tivo box refusing the connection, but what do I know? :confused:

Have you tried rebooting the Tivo?

[Chilkoot]

I've been having the same problems and tried most everything on this post except changing to static IP. I'm not an IT person and know very little about my computer. I recently purchased a laptop and have been trying to transfer video from my new Series 2 Tivo but it always stopped before being totally downloaded, and I received the "Target Machine Actively Refused Connection".

I had thought that just my display/screen was going into sleep mode. Actually the hard drive was going into sleep mode as well. Once I changed that setting my transfers are going through fine now.

[apwallace]

I've read this thread and decided to reinstall TiVo Desktop 2.2.

During the installation, one of the screens specifically says says that if anything changes with your Firewall that you will need to reinstall the software. That triggered my memory as I haven't used this software in over a month, I had installed McAfee Personal Firewall (provided by ISP). I believe this was the source of my problems.

In a nutshell, after a reinstall, it appears to work fine. Of course, it is hard to tell for sure as it still takes an hour to transfer even over a wired connection. I am about half-way through the transfer with no problems.

(I am using a wired USB to ethernet converter which has been much more reliabile than my wireless network for these long transfers).

[sitruc]

ok guys i was stuck on this for about two days and this is what fixed it for me.
BTW i could get to the //(tivoip) site and dl from there
basicly i unstalled my firewall sw and turned off windows FW and it worked fine so if that helps
(BTW i did try turning it off in MSCONFIG but i gues it still runs anyway ) the only way i got it to work was to uninstall it hope this helps let the thread know if it does

[TomJ]

I've had spotty performance with transfering shows to my PC, but have managed to xfr ~100 Gig over the last 1.5 months.

I've found that when I get an interrupted transfer, I can usually get things back on track by:

-Stopping the transfer in Tivo Desktop (hint: if you have a few shows queued up, delete them from the bottom up, otherwise each one will attempt to transfer)
-Shutting down Tivo Server and Desktop
-Deleting the fragment of the transferred show from the hard drive
-Rebooting the router
-Restarting Tivo Desktop, and resuming Tivo Server

That regimen worked until a couple days ago, when the latest interrupted transfer occurred. I tried my routine a couple times over the last two days, but I think the next step is to reboot the Tivo.

Regards,
Tom
Added: Just got home, and checked the Network status of the Tivo box -- it said "no signal" for the wireless connection. I unplugged the wireless adapter from the Tivo, and plugged it back in, and all is well.

[DarkAudit]

I got this message over the weekend. First thing I did was reset the cable modem/router box. That actually made things worse. At that point, the TiVo couldn't even find the network.

After I rebooted the TiVo, all was well. Except for the occasional spontaneous reboots while transferiing recordings to the PC. :p

[gs64]

I have had a wired connection and a static IP address on my TiVo box since I installed it a few months ago. I too suddenly started receiving "target machine actively refused connection". When I searched for a solution I saw that many other people have experienced the same problem. I could still view photos and play music from my pc on the TiVo box with no problem. I knew the network connection was okay because of that, plus the fact that I could ping the TiVo box from my PC.

I too tried all the suggestions listed, stopping my firewall, rebooting, etc. nothing worked. I then started capturing packets on my home network and saw a problem. My PC and the TiVo did the normal TCP handshake (SYN, SYN ACK, ACK), but then my computer sent a (RST ACT). This RST will reset the connection. At this point I figured either Bill had updated my PC automatically or TiVo had updated my TiVo box (I have seen different looks on my TiVo lately). I help my father out with his computer, who is in another state, by remotely connecting to his laptop with VNC. Tonight it did not work, so I captured packets again and noticed again after the TCP connection was established, my PC sent another RST! Okay now I know the problem was on my PC.

With that said, here is what I did to resolve both my TiVo and VNC problem. I used windows XP's "Undo changes to your computer with System Restore". This allows you to roll back to a previous system state, without losing any documents or email you have received. I rolled back my system to June 4th and everything is fine again. I can only assume that a Microsoft update caused the problem. I have not had the time to try other restore points to see the exact date or update that stopped my PC from talking to TiVo. Perhaps on the weekend I will be able to investigate further. For now everything is working fine and I'm not too concerned about not having all the latest Microsoft updates installed.

I hope this helps others having the same problem.

[greg_burns]

I used windows XP's "Undo changes to your computer with System Restore".

Doe that also roll back your Tivo Desktop cache folder? :confused:

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\TiVo Desktop\Cache

and

C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Application Data\TiVo Desktop\TivoTransfer.dat

That's the first thing I always try when it starts acting up for me. (And rebooting the Tivo)