Problems with TivoCast downloads

[whunter]

Hello,

I am having an issue where some TivoCast downloads keep aborting. Specifically, I'm subscribed to the Pulp Fiction download. For the last two weeks, it shows up in my Now Playing list as "in process", then it never completes, and just disappears. I have later gone to the download center and tried to manually download the missed episodes, but the same thing happens.

I checked Tivo's connection to the wireless network -- it is always rated excellent.

I tried to download a different TivoCast (the Onion) -- and it worked with no problem.

Is it possible there is a problem with this specific TivoCast? And if so, is that Tivo's problem or is it the content provider's problem? How can I report the issue to Tivo? (I don't see any way to report an issue on their website -- do I really have to call them?) Is anyone else having these issues?

Thanks in advance for any help!

[TiVoStephen]

Sorry to hear you've having difficulty. E-mail me (estephen@tivo.com) with your TIVo Service Number from System Information and I'll have someone take a look.

[TiVoStephen]

Actually, we know that some of the Next New Network ones (including Pulp Secret) are having some difficulty today.

[jaredmwright]

Likewise I am having similar problems with Fast Lane Daily. The TiVoCast gets hung at about 3 minutes downloading and then just sits there. I let it sit for about 6 hours and when I came back home it was still at 3 minutes. I had to cancel the download and have not been able to succesfully download the latest episode even after cancelling and re-adding Fast Lane Daily as a Season Pass.

Running TiVo Series 3, version 9.2a-01-2-648

All of my other TiVoCasts appear to be working properly.

Hopefully this is a known issue that TiVo is working on? I will send you my service number via email as well.

[arex]

I've been having the same problem lately. Last week, I saw the tivo downloading Fast Lane Daily and then it was gone. Also tried to check out that Ultra Kawaii cute pet show (for the wife) and the same thing happened. It'd show the download in progress and then it'd disappear momentarily then reappear and then disappear again.

I had no problem downloading one of the freebies from Amazon Unboxed. I also just discovered music videos at Music Choice and have downloaded a slew of them without problems. CNET came in over the weekend, no problem either. I tried rebooting but I don't think that helped. Very strange. What's going on??

[TiVoStephen]

We do have known issues with Fast Lane Daily (one of the Next New Networks channels); please see my other thread.

The issue is the site they are using for hosting their files has developed some kind of strange problem starting late last week. We are helping them investigate.

In the meantime, apologies for the problem.

[TiVoStephen]

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=383363

[etz]

I don't know if this is related, but I tried the current PodShowTV Finding America episode. While I got the full episode, it was sound only....no video whatsoever.

[TruckerTom]

I'm the producer of Finding America. I'll check with my contact with Podshow and see if he can take a look at it. There should be two episodes available so far. Feel free to email me directly at tomwiles@gmail.com if you continue to experience problems. Unfortunately I don't have a TiVo and can't get one because I live in an area where cable isn't available.

[etz]

I don't know, TruckerTom. The CasaBonita episode was the same way.....sound only, no video. I redownloaded the Rocky video and it was the same as before too.

[TruckerTom]

My contact at Podshow says that his TiVo box plays them back. It almost sounds like you have a missing playback codec or perhaps your TiVo box needs to be rebooted. I don't have a TiVo myself and can't get one because my only alternative is Dish Network. If you are able to solve this problem please let me know. Do other Podshow episodes such as Alaska Podshow also exhibit this problem? Alaska Podshow is using exactly the same MPEG-2 conversion filter that I'm using to render the TiVo files. Keep me updated.--TOM

[etz]

I did a reboot this morning, and re-redownloaded both available episodes. Once again, both are audio only. I don't think codecs are anything that we have s shred of control over anyway.

[anstett]

I found Finding America just in the last couple of days and did a season pass for it. Both episodes downloaded fine for me. No play back issues at all.

BOB

Series 3 over wireless LAN

[TiVoStephen]

etz, sorry to hear you're having trouble. Do you have this issue with any other of the TiVoCast channels?

Please e-mail me (estephen@tivo.com) your 15-digit TiVo Service Number and we'll take a look.

Is anyone else having this problem with Finding America? I'm not able to reproduce in-house.

TruckerTom, welcome to the forums!

Best regards,
Stephen

[beach6412]

An episode of The Stack from NNN was only a partial dowload this morning.

[TiVoStephen]

The one reviewing Booster Gold #0 from yesterday? It's 11 minutes, and shows as complete on all of my test units. Can you try redownloading?

[Graystone]

Previous version of Ultra Kawaii have downloaded and viewed fine on my Tivo DT.

The last two downloads of Ultra Kawaii have started out OK and then a few seconds into it the audio leads the video by a good 5-10 seconds. I don't see any glitches or anything. Just looks like it looses sync about 1/3 into it.

I went to the online site for Ultra Kawaii and the video there works fine.

Has anyone else had this happen?

[carroca]

Is anyone else having this problem with Finding America? I'm not able to reproduce in-house.

Stephen, I'm having the same exact problem (sound but no video) with Finding America and Alaska PodShow. I have Season Passes for both and every one that has downloaded has had no video (black screen) but the sound has worked (at least the bits I hear before and after I fast-forward to get to the end to delete). It's interesting that TruckerTom says they use the same conversion filter for both shows. Do any other shows use it? I have watched at least one episode of all the other PodShow shows and they all worked fine. Maybe S3/HD units are OK but S2 (or specifically, 540 models like mine) have problems.

On another note, I have noticed several instances of episodes ending early (getting cut off). It has happened on a variety of shows from different distributors. I thought it might be an Internet connection problem (even though I'm very lucky that I rarely have them) but a few times I tried downloading the episode manually and they cut off at the same spot. I can't remember off the top of my head which shows it happened to, but the next time it happens I'll let you know.

[carroca]

Previous version of Ultra Kawaii have downloaded and viewed fine on my Tivo DT.

The last two downloads of Ultra Kawaii have started out OK and then a few seconds into it the audio leads the video by a good 5-10 seconds. I don't see any glitches or anything. Just looks like it looses sync about 1/3 into it.

I went to the online site for Ultra Kawaii and the video there works fine.

Has anyone else had this happen?

I don't know if I've noticed it in Ultra Kawaii but I have seen it a couple of times recently too. I think I may have seen it in Indy Mogul.

TiVoCast does seem to be a bit glitchy. I'm assuming most of the problems are at the conversion/distribution end where people are just getting use to creating content in TiVo format.

I'm going to try to be better at reporting the problems I see to Stephen so he can look into them as he seems to be very interested in getting the TiVoCast experience smoothed out.

[TiVoStephen]

Thanks Carroca.

We're investigating the Ultra Kawaii audio issue.

[d_anders]

Thanks Carroca.

We're investigating the Ultra Kawaii audio issue.


Please, o please, pass on to others at TiVo to make an update to the TiVoHD (series 4 hardware update?) capable of downloading and transcoding standard web based content without the need of the providers to make it "TIVO" capable....this special transcoding for TiVoCast and the necessity to keep the PC around to transcode other web content (as announced) is already old.

[rainwater]

Please, o please, pass on to others at TiVo to make an update to the TiVoHD (series 4 hardware update?) capable of downloading and transcoding standard web based content without the need of the providers to make it "TIVO" capable....this special transcoding for TiVoCast and the necessity to keep the PC around to transcode other web content (as announced) is already old.

TiVo already announced this: http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2008-01/ces-more-on-tivos-web-video/

[joeyjoe325]

Is there a problem with NextNewNetworks again? Pulp Secret has not downloaded the Wednesday show for 2 weeks. I checked their website and there is a new one.

Is everyone having this issue?

Thanks.

[JYoung]

Is there a problem with NextNewNetworks again? Pulp Secret has not downloaded the Wednesday show for 2 weeks. I checked their website and there is a new one.

Is everyone having this issue?

Thanks.

Nope, I watched a new one the other day.
Reviewing Justice League #18 and they did a bit about Zombies.

[carroca]

As promised here are my most recent TiVoCast problems:

Break.com "Best of Break Week 52": frequent audio/video freezing at irregular intervals. Actual video ended at about 14:40 but TiVo recording kept playing with no audio and black screen until about 18:18.

NYT - Minimalist "Roasted Tomato Soup": Recording ended prematurely at about 4:31. Progress bar ended at 0:05 with no green bar from the 4:31 point to the end.

Finding America "Cross Country Trip": As usual, audio is fine but the video is black for the entire recording.

Indy Mogul "Once": At about 2:20 the audio becomes out of sync with the video.

ExerciseTV Weight Loss "Jillian Fit Tip Sweat!": At about 2:30 audio gets garbled and the video freezes and then becomes pixelated. The video clears up at about 3:00 to show the ExerciseTV logo before going black for the rest of the recording which ends at about 3:47.


The good news is that there are many recordings that were fine:

Super Deluxe "Fark TV: Jamie Lynn Spears in Juno"
NYT - Movie Minutes "Chop Shop"
ThreadBanger "Prom Dresses, Bow Ties, Thread Heads"
CNET "Smile! It's camera week!"
DL.TV "Episode 221"
ExerciseTV Six Pack Abs "Foam Roller"
ExerciseTV Six Pack Abs "Standing Abs"
ExerciseTV Weight Loss "Ballerina Legs"
ExerciseTV Flexibility & Flow "Energy Boost"
ExerciseTV Ripped & Toned "10 min Buns & Thigh"

[joeyjoe325]

I also had a problem with the NYT - Minimalist "Roasted Tomato Soup" but I requested again and it downloaded fine.

My Finding America has always worked good.

I am having a problem with Pulp Secret from NextNewNetworks. It is inconsistant with the Wednesday show. Last week only the Monday show downloaded (so no Wed. show). The week before the Wed. show downloaded on Friday?? Anyone else having this problem?

[carroca]

My Finding America has always worked good.Do you have an S3/HD? It seems that Finding America and Alaska PodShow work on S3/HD models but not S2s. I also saw the same problem (good audio/black video) for the first time on The Weather Channel Northeast Regional Forecast last night.

[dorian]

Psssstttt..... TivoStephen...... whatever those CNET guys are doing, pass it on to the others. CNET never seems to have problems. Their content isn't my cup of tea all the time, but I've never been disappointed in their quality.

[wmcbrine]

CNET never seems to have problems. Their content isn't my cup of tea all the time, but I've never been disappointed in their quality.Well, they have excessive black borders, and can't seem to control their volume level. But I'm being picky, when you consider that Rocketboom isn't showing up at all. (ahem)

[TiVoStephen]

Sorry about the issues. For the ones carroca reports, we're not able to reproduce in house, so I'm at a bit of a loss. Folks, please let me know if any of you have any of the same issues as carroca. carroca, please send me your TiVo Service Number. Thanks.

joeyjoe325, can you try downloading the missing ones manually? It should be back to normal now.

As for Rocketboom, they haven't updated their feed to us, and we're investigating. Apologies for the inconvenience.

[wmcbrine]

I suspect that Carroca's problem with the two PodShow TiVoCasts is due to them being flagged as 16:9. (Of course, both these and the "4:3" PodShows are rendered incorrectly, with the same half-letterboxing, so they look wrong in both 4:3 and 16:9.)

[joeyjoe325]

I have a S2 DT and the Finding America & Alaska podshows have always worked.

The Pulp Secret wednesday show does not show up to download. Only the monday shows have been showing up consistantly.

Did anyone notice a new TiVoCast? The Gametap TV (I think that's the name)? The quality seems low but it downloaded okay.

[steve614]

Indy Mogul: Best of the fake head.

Audio / Video way out of sync.

[yerin]

Indy Mogul: Best of the fake head.

Audio / Video way out of sync.

I'm having the same problem with "ThreadBanger: Threadheads at SXSW, Day 1" and it was a problem on the last episode of ThreadBanger too. I feel like I'm watching Kung Fu film.

[etz]

This is getting ridiculous.

Today I got CrankyGeeks #107. No video....just audio. This is the first time Cranky Geeks had this problem for me.

[TiVoStephen]

Sorry to hear about this etz. Can you send me your 15-character TiVo Service Number?

I've downloaded this CG episode on a half dozen units and all of them downloaded perfectly with both audio and video. So I'm a bit at a loss. We'll get an engineer to investigate.

As for yerin and the ThreadBanger sync issue, we're investigating this as well. The problem seems to exist in the source material posted at ThreadBanger.com, can you verify that you're seeing the same thing on your DVR?

[etz]

emails sent....thanks