Is there a way to skip aquiring the guide?

[Fezmid]

Hey all,
We had a big snowstorm in the midwest late last week, and since then we've had limited signal from the dish. Some transponders are in the 50-60 range, others in the 30-40 range, and others are at 0. We were getting roughly 30-40% of our channels, including all of the locals, so it wasn't a big deal to just wait for the snow to melt.

This morning, however, the TiVos are complaining that they can't get the guide data and are stuck on the "aquiring signal" page! :mad: I know there's guide data on the system for at least the next few days, because I checked last week. Is there a way to tell the box "don't worry about it, just show me the channels you have a signal for, even if you don't have guide data?" :(

I'm really regretting where I put the dish when I built the house, as it's not really accessible at all. Didn't have any problems for 10 years, but now.... :(

[hiker]

Have you tried the DIRECTV (TiVo) button? You might be able to view recorded programs but you probably will get stuck on acquiring signal if you try to view live tv.

[Fezmid]

Have you tried the DIRECTV (TiVo) button? You might be able to view recorded programs but you probably will get stuck on acquiring signal if you try to view live tv.
Yeah, I can watch recorded programs no problem -- but I want to watch Live TV. There really should be a workaround for that...

I just checked my living room TiVo, and it's still working fine -- and I have guide data for at least another week (I stopped looking after that). I get all the locals, and lots of other channels as well, but I have a feeling this is going to bite me once the downstairs TiVo wants to get a new guide as well... :(

I wish (hope?) that there's a way to tell the TiVo to skip the guide data, but I'm guessing not... :( It sucks knowing that I COULD watch something, if the box would let me....

Oh well, I've hooked up my OTA antenna to my main TV so at least we'll be able to watch stuff live if needbe. Another reason to keep the OTA antenna and not rely on one source for TV ;)

[jsharper]

I believe when it says it is getting "guide data," it is also referring to the info on the dynamic mapping between channel numbers and transponder numbers (and whatever it uses to identify the individual channels on the stream from a given transponder). Without this mapping data, it really can't show you the channels that it can receive, because it doesn't know where to look for them anymore. Meaning, when you ask for channel x, it doesn't know what transponder and subchannel to find that on without that mapping data.

(take this post with a grain of salt... but I believe the basic idea is correct)

[Fezmid]

I believe when it says it is getting "guide data," it is also referring to the info on the dynamic mapping between channel numbers and transponder numbers (and whatever it uses to identify the individual channels on the stream from a given transponder). Without this mapping data, it really can't show you the channels that it can receive, because it doesn't know where to look for them anymore. Meaning, when you ask for channel x, it doesn't know what transponder and subchannel to find that on without that mapping data.

(take this post with a grain of salt... but I believe the basic idea is correct)
But still, it's not like those mappings change, so you should be able to override and say "use what it was before" so that you can keep using the DVR...

I went outside today to see what the problem was, and there was a hunk of snow balanced on the arm of the dish. Nothing on the LNBs, nothing on the dish, just a bunch somehow stuck to the arm. It was sunny enough today that by the time I came back from the Minnesota Swarm game, the snow had fallen off/melted and I'm good to go. The only issue (and I think rebooting will fix it) is that the upstairs TiVo that complained about not being able to get the guide data said that a lot of channels were not available. I'd select 206 for ESPN, and it said, "Channel not available." In addition, the channels weren't even in the guide. Weird, never seen that before, but hopefully rebooting will take care of it.

If anyone knows an answer to the original question, I'd like to hear it, but I'm guessing the answer is "tough luck" :(