Repeats, first runs, ... - what do they mean?

[rupesh97]

Sorry, I know this is not an S3-specific question. I have tried searching forums to no avail ...

What precisely does it mean to record First Run only versus Repeats & First Runs versus All?

- If I have a season pass for BBC which has the same generic description for each episode, how will S3 handle it?
- If my setting is First Run Only, will Tivo record a 3-year old CSI if I have (or Tivo has) never seen it before?

Also, Tivo manual is ridiculously vague about this (Why? For one possible explanation, go to http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000036.html and jump to "LRF-1914").

[Jerry_K]

If the guide does not have repeat at the end, the TiVo will assume it is first run. So it will record anything without repeat. If you choose first run and repeat it records everything.

A lot of my outdoors shows on ESPN are that way. I just delete the duplicates.

[Bierboy]

But the larger question is what's the difference between first run & repeats versus all?

[greg_burns]

But the larger question is what's the difference between first run & repeats versus all?

Does not all ignore the 28 day rule?

[hookbill]

Does not all ignore the 28 day rule?

No. When they started running "The West Wing" on Bravo a few years back I had it set to record all but the 28 day rule still was in effect. That was good as they showed the same episode several days during the week.

[monkeydust]

Does not all ignore the 28 day rule?
Sorry, what is that? Never heard of it.

[mwarner]

The 28 day rule means that if TiVo records a specific episode of a program, it will not schedule it to record again for 28 days. This helps solve the problem of, say NBC, running an episode of Heroes on Monday, then the same episode on Saturday night. If TiVo recorded it on Monday night, it will not attempt to record the same episode again for 28 days, thus skipping the Saturday night showing.

Same thing applies to, say, Mythbusters on the Discovery Channel. They run the same episode on Wednesday night at 9pm, then the same episode at midnight. Since the 28 day rule is in effect on TiVo, the midnight showing is not recorded (as long as the 9PM showing was).

Hope that helps and if I'm missing something, someone will correct me pretty quickly. :)

-Matt

[monkeydust]

Thanks, mwarner. I assumed something like that was coded but I wasn't familiar with the name or details.

[Stormspace]

Sorry, I know this is not an S3-specific question. I have tried searching forums to no avail ...

What precisely does it mean to record First Run only versus Repeats & First Runs versus All?

- If I have a season pass for BBC which has the same generic description for each episode, how will S3 handle it?
- If my setting is First Run Only, will Tivo record a 3-year old CSI if I have (or Tivo has) never seen it before?

Also, Tivo manual is ridiculously vague about this (Why? For one possible explanation, go to http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/fog0000000036.html and jump to "LRF-1914").

I believe the settings are:

*First Run Only - The original airing only
*First Run and Repeats - The original airing plus any repeated shows that haven't been recorded in the last 28 days.
*All with Duplicates - First run and repeat shows, even those that have already been recorded during the last 28 days. Do this with something like Spongebob at your own risk. :)

Also for cable networks there is a tendency at times to have incomplete guide data. For instance CSI might have in it's description. "A team of scientists solve crime" for every episode on spike. TiVo can't tell from that description whether it's a rerun or first run so it treats it as a first run show and records it, every time.