Access to TiVo over the internet

[paulcahill]

Hi all,

Could anyone give me some guidance as to how I access my TiVo on the internet from a location outside my home please? I work away from home for 4 months of the year and would like to be able to access the TiVo at home to record things on an ad hoc basis. I'm sure this is doable but have no idea how I get into my home network remotely. I use a mac and an orange livebox. I know my TiVo's MAC address and internet address but am not sure what other information I need.

Sorry to be such dumb head, any help would be appreciated.

Regards, Paul

[ewilts]

You can schedule recordings at the TiVo web site. Go to http://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/index.do and you're off to the races.

[steveroe]

You can schedule recordings at the TiVo web site. Go to http://www3.tivo.com/tivo-tco/index.do and you're off to the races.

If only it were simple for us UK Series 1 owners...

I haven't done it, so I'll leave someone else to give the details, but in summary:

Install a cachecard
Install TivoWeb
Configure port forwarding on your router
Sign up to a dynamic ip address dns provider

[BaggieBoy]

I haven't done it, so I'll leave someone else to give the details, but in summary:

Install a cachecard
Install TivoWeb
Configure port forwarding on your router
Sign up to a dynamic ip address dns provider

I've done it and that is about all there is to it.

[Fred Smith]

Steve has covered most of it, I have done it twice, these rest is here:

http://www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/tivoweb.html

Note the link to Tivoweb 1.94 no linger works so use this one instead for the download:

http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/hacks/tivoweb.html

Thanks to one of our forum members for that.

Orenosp is no longer free, so you might want to skip that step.

[Pete77]

The Tivoweb Wikipedia page at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tivoweb is also rather handy as is www.planetbuilders.org/tivo/tivo_upgrade_diary.html and www.mfslive.org for those using larger more recent SATA hard drives.

[johala_reewi]

If only it were simple for us UK Series 1 owners...
...
Sign up to a dynamic ip address dns provider

If your ISP offers a static IP address, get one of those.
Saves messing with ever changing IP addresses.

[Pete77]

If your ISP offers a static IP address, get one of those.

Saves messing with ever changing IP addresses.

Most of the big boys like Sky, TalkTalk, Tiscali, BT etc however don't give you a static IP address either at all or without paying extra.

Small niche ISPs like www.newnet.co.uk, www.idnet.co.uk and Entanet resellers like www.adsl24.co.uk and www.vivaciti.co.uk all give you one as standard but are more expensive, especially if you live on a larger telephone exchange where the big boys can offer their cheaper LLU subscription rates.

Plusnet I believe still provides a static IP address free of charge on request but now has an 18 month minimum contract period. www.newnew.co.uk, www.idnet.co.uk and Entanet resellers all only have a one month contract....

[Trinitron]

Or you could get Tivo to do the work of checking your IP address for you - here's something I prepared earlier, as someone once said.

Not entirely suitable for Tivo hacker newcomers I admit, as you need to add some utilities (wget, grep and sed) and cron to make it work. If you don't know what they are then just search around and you will find lots of advice from persons more knowledgeable than me.

[AMc]

Interesting...I have a similar script that relies on some other utilities to find it's own IP address. The author (ciper) put in a count to force an update after x runs - which seems to have fallen foul of Dyndns fair use policy and has deleted my domain.
I've just amended the script to remove the force - I'll see how it goes.

Details over at the other place in forum/showthread.php?t=51840

[Mark Bennett]

OK, I've been struggling with this for years on and off... I'm going to have to ask :o

What do I actually enter in the web address to run tivoweb?

I can run tivowebplus from within my own network - simply put the internal ip address in, I've been doing this at home for years.
But when coming in over the internet what do I enter?

I have a dyndns hostname set up - with DynDnsUpdater updating the address from my ISP, so I know I have to enter that hostname, but then what do I enter to run TivoWebPlus?

[Pete77]

I have a dyndns hostname set up - with DynDnsUpdater updating the address from my ISP, so I know I have to enter that hostname, but then what do I enter to run TivoWebPlus?

You need to enter your dyndynsname domain name followed by a : and the port number that you have set up for TivoWebPlus to be accessed through in its tivoweb.cfg file. This file would normally be in the var/hack/TivoWebPlus directory and you need to edit the file with joe or other similar Unix file format compatible file editor.

So to get to your Tivo from another computer on the internet you would enter http://mydomainname.dyndns.org:443 if the port number you have set up for TivoWebPlus is 443. But also you need to set up port forwarding on your router to forward any port 443 request to your internal IP address of say 192.168.0.4

So you would enter http:domainname/dyndns.org:443 on another computer on the internet but your own router must be configured to forward traffic to Port 443 or Port 8080 or whatever port you have configured in tivoweb.cfg to be the port that TivoWebPlus will accept external internet traffic on.

See www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/tivoweb.html for more information.

[Mark Bennett]

Ah. Yes I've done all that... :(

I followed the Steve Conrad instructions originally.

Port is forwarded, same as the one in the cfg file.

So I just enter the port number after the domain name? That sounds weird... no other path?

It's just never worked for me :(

[Mark Bennett]

But also you need to set up port forwarding on your router to forward any port 443 request to your internal IP address of say 192.168.0.4



Aha - this might be it?

I've forwarded the port, but I can't see how to forward any request to it to the IP Address of the Tivo.

Sounds easy, but I can't see how on earth to do this.
:o

[Pete77]

I've forwarded the port, but I can't see how to forward any request to it to the IP Address of the Tivo.

By making the internal IP address it is forwarded to the same as the one your Tivo was set to using the nic_config_tivo command (from the Telnet prompt) or using the Silicondust installation CD software.

[Fred Smith]

I've forwarded the port, but I can't see how to forward any request to it to the IP Address of the Tivo.

Sounds like you have not forwared the port, when you port forward you specify the port number and IP address (internal) of the device to which the port is being forwarded too i.e on my Netgear Router:

Service Name: TiVo
Start Port: 443
End Port: 443
Server IP Address: 192.168.11.4

But I an Using Orenosp on my server PC between the router and TiVo.

So your's would probably be something like this but insert port number and IP address as appropriate:

Service Name (or choose your own): TiVo
Start Port (to match TiVo): 80
End Port (as above): 80
Server IP Address (to match TiVo IP address): 192.168.1.2

[Pete77]

Port forwarding is easy and obvious to do on most Netgear routers but confusing on a Thomson router such as a Be Box (Speedtouch 780 WL) which has its own weird firmware that makes configuring most such things far from obvious how to do.

[Fred Smith]

The OP has not mentioned the make of his router so why assume it a Thomson?

I have a Netgear on line now that's why I used it as a example, but I could have have used Bufflao, Draytek, Edimax or Zyxel as examples, all of which I have access too.

[Pete77]

Fred,

I was merely trying to help but if the OP is still stuck I could probably try and stop by some time as Farnborough is not far out of my way when journeying between my mother's house in Bucks and my own place in southern Surrey.

[Mark Bennett]

Actually, it's a Safecom router.

And now I realise that the address of the tivo IS selected in a dropdown box at the top of the port forwarding page (I must have selected it ages ago, and since forgotten).

I was wondering how it all worked and now Pete's explaination and the fact I now notice the selectable internal address is at thew top of the port forward page kind of shows I've got it setup right. (Well, it looks like I have - Obviously not though!)

I wonder what's wrong?

[Pete77]

I wonder what's wrong?

Do you also perhaps have some sort of directory extension set in the tivoweb.cfg file? If so you have to enter this after the port number in the URL.

So you would have to enter eg http://mytivodomain.dyndns.org:443/mytivo

You can also enter restrictions on your router about what external IP addresses can connect to it and/or the hours during which they can do so rather than just leaving it open for any IP address on the internet to connect to it at any time. Did you perhaps set any of those restrictions for instance?

What version of TivoWebPlus are you running? My memory was that TivoWebPlus 1.3.1 doesn't work at all reliably with external internet connections. Version 2.1.3 works fine. Although its generally better to also have Tivoweb 1.9.4 set up as your default Tivo browser (the one the Tivo the boots up with) and for external web access and then flip over to TivoWebPlus when you need it using the function in the www.tivohackman.com Tivoweb/Tivowebplus module that lets you swap between Tivoweb and Tivowebplus.

[AMc]

Have you tried accessing from outside your own network or asking someone else to do it from another location?

A common problem is that port forwarding doesn't work from inside your own LAN. you can't access the Tivo from inside the LAN using the external domain and port. You need to access the domain from the internet for the port forwarding to work. This had me for a while until I used my phone browser to try the domain over GPRS (not WiFi from the LAN).

[Pete77]

A common problem is that port forwarding doesn't work from inside your own LAN. you can't access the Tivo from inside the LAN using the external domain and port. You need to access the domain from the internet for the port forwarding to work. This had me for a while until I used my phone browser to try the domain over GPRS (not WiFi from the LAN).

If the OP tries to access Tivo using the dyndns URL or your IP address from within their home network they will possibly hit their router's browser page instead of the Tivoweb browser. However this usually doesn't happen as long as a port for Tivoweb other than port 80 is set in tivoweb.cfg

EDIT: Thinking about it some more if you enter the URL http:/mytivodomain.dyndns.org from within your home network you will hit your router's browser page but if you enter http:/mytivodomain.dyndns.org:443 you will be port forwarded to Tivoweb (if your Tivoweb cfg file is set to put the browser on port 443.) Clearly you should replace 443 with whatever port you have actually assigned to Tivoweb in tivoweb.cfg

[verses]

I've not read through the full thread, but when moving from a PC to Mac server I wrote the following guide as an alternative to using OrepoSP;
http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20080304022413775&query=reverse+proxy

[johala_reewi]

Perhaps you CAN access Tivo from the internet but Tivo is unable to reply because of a duff routing table?

You need to telnet to your tivo from a PC on the home network then find out what the default gateway is set to.

To find out what your default gateway is currently set to, type route.tivo -n at the bash prompt and look for the line beginning 0.0.0.0

This should be directed to the IP address of your router.

If there is no line beginning 0.0.0.0, then there is no default gateway and Tivo has no way of talking to the internet, only the local home network.

See also...
http://archive2.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2897965&&#post2897965

[Mark Bennett]

johala_reewi,

That may be it - as you say in the linked thread about using the network card to update the listings. I've never bothered with that and left it accessing via the phone line...
So it looks like the Tivo has no network access to the outside world (I don't remember seeing that in the Tivoweb instructions :o)

The Tivo is recording at the moment so I'll have to have a go at that tomorrow.

Thanks everyone, all very useful!

[Mark Bennett]

Update:

That was it! :up:

Just run the
route.tivo add -net 0.0.0.0 gw 192.168.0.1 netmask 0.0.0.0
line, logged in with my laptop and a 3G dongle (so not on my own network) and I'm in!

Even asked me for the password that I thought hadn't taken as it never asks for it on my own internal network.

Now to try and get this to run automatically... ;)

Thanks all! And special thanks to johala_reewi for coming up with the ultimate solution. :)

[Mark Bennett]

Little problem...

I've added TivoWebPlus, autospace, and the setgateway script to the rc.sysinit.author file:

<snip>
/var/hack/TivoWebPlus/tivoweb
/var/hack/autospace/autospace.tcl
/var/hack/setgateway &

autospace works, but tivoweb doesn't - not from my own network
This is the same command I use to manually start it - and manually starting it now means it still works.
Anything I've done wrong inthe startup script? I don't understand the significance of the "&" - should I have another after tivoweb?

[Pete77]

autospace works, but tivoweb doesn't - not from my own network

This is the same command I use to manually start it - and manually starting it now means it still works.

Anything I've done wrong inthe startup script? I don't understand the significance of the "&" - should I have another after tivoweb?

You ought to have >>/dev/null 2>&1 & at the end of each line to make sure the programs are properly backgrounded when they are started.

eg /var/hack/autospace.tcl start >>/dev/null 2>&1 &

[Mark Bennett]

Thanks Pete,

I added that to the end of each line, rebooted, and thankfully I can access within and outside of my own network now.
Have to admit I've not seen the start >>/dev/null 2>&1 & bits appended to the commands on http://www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/tivoweb.html etc, so didn't know to add them!

[Proteo]

Mark - I use Teamviewer for this stuff. Lots easier :)

Are you finally tackling the next challenge? How to get video off the unit so you can watch it remotely..
My plan is use Tystudio 0.5.0 to extract and convert to mpg on a local pc, then copy the converted files *which are hopefully smaller to my Web accessible folder on my WD Netbook (HDD). So far I've managed to get the ty files but conversion isn't quite working?

Chaps - Is there an easier way these days? All seems so 2003.

Thanks

[Pete77]

So far I've managed to get the ty files but conversion isn't quite working?

Chaps - Is there an easier way these days? All seems so 2003.

If you just want to watch the Tivo programs on a notebook or desktop computer VLC Media Player can play the native .ty files directly without the need for any further conversion. You only need to get in to all that tedious conversion stuff if you want to make a Tivo program in to a standard DVD that will play on any DVD player (even a normal £25 one that is not part of a computer).

You can get VLC Media Player for free at www.videolan.org/vlc/

[cwaring]

Details here: http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/stream.php

[Proteo]

Been using VLC for years.. didn't even think to try that on ty.. Many thanks! for both tips!

[martink0646]

This subject used to be off limits but if we can talk about it, here goes......

I've been using TyTools 10r4 for years & it works perfectly for archiving. Within it there is an option to transfer either .ty or.mpg. I once had a problem with .ty's that when I ran them my PC would crash. that occured after I had installed a codec to allow them to play. After that PC died, I have found that Vista now plays .ty's natively although I always use GOM or VLC for any video playback. WMP is just awful.

If you haven't tried GOM have a play with it. It is much more user friendly than VLC and I use it for avi's & mpg's mainly. The only file types I use VLC for are .mov's and .iso dvd rips which it handles better.

Martin

[Proteo]

Thanks I will try TyTools and GOM. I use Win7 on an Acer Revo R3610. Works really well apart from Flash stuff like.. iplayer downloads.

[RichardJH]

Thanks I will try TyTools and GOM. I use Win7 on an Acer Revo R3610. Works really well apart from Flash stuff like.. iplayer downloads.

I also have Acer 3610 running Win7 and XBMC. Iplayer works fine on mine except HD downloads are not as good as using cable VOD/Catch up on demand.
Have you updated Nvidia Ion drivers to latest and installed Flash 10.1

[Proteo]

Hi Richard,

I did those driver updates as soon as it was out of its box. Hasn't had much improvement. I find that streaming iplayer works fine but downloading normal or HD and playing later isn't good. I've not tried this recently but I know it was because adobe didn't have a good driver that works with the Nvidia chip. When you look at task manager you can see the Atom processor is doing all the work and is maxed out when normally it wouldn't be. Overall still v happy and probably just need to wait till the support is in place. Not tried XBMC but hear good things about that, I'm tempted to try Linux on it too. But Win 7 is miles nicer than Vista.

Better start talking Tivo again for good measure :)

[Mark Bennett]

Mark - I use Teamviewer for this stuff. Lots easier :)

Are you finally tackling the next challenge? How to get video off the unit so you can watch it remotely..



Been doing it for years with TyTool. :D

[NickB]

Resurrecting this old thread:

My Netgear router went belly-up recently and I've replaced it with an Apple Time Capsule. Problem is I can't figure out how to set-up the port forwarding so that I can continue to access my Tivo via the web.

Anyone else using a TC or Airport Extreme that's done this?

[Pete77]

My Netgear router went belly-up recently and I've replaced it with an Apple Time Capsule. Problem is I can't figure out how to set-up the port forwarding so that I can continue to access my Tivo via the web.

Anyone else using a TC or Airport Extreme that's done this?

This any use:-

http://theappleblog.com/2009/05/05/how-to-port-forwarding-on-a-airport-extreme-time-capsule/

or this:-

http://discussions.info.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=9644453

or this:-

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=7357316

[royfox]

Hi all,

Could anyone give me some guidance as to how I access my TiVo on the internet from a location outside my home please? I work away from home for 4 months of the year and would like to be able to access the TiVo at home to record things on an ad hoc basis. I'm sure this is doable but have no idea how I get into my home network remotely. I use a mac and an orange livebox. I know my TiVo's MAC address and internet address but am not sure what other information I need.

Sorry to be such dumb head, any help would be appreciated.

Regards, Paul

So Paul.. to answer your question. The easiest way after reading all the posts on this thread, seems to be for you to employ R2D2 & C3PO for a day or two.. and pray they know more about hacking / programming than you or I do.... lol

PLEASE Tivo.. hurry up and get the UK back into using 21st Century TIVO equipment.. Wouldn't it be nice to just have easy web access to your beloved TIVO? oh well.. head back down for another couple of years...
xx

[Pete77]

Wouldn't it be nice to just have easy web access to your beloved TIVO? oh well.. head back down for another couple of years...
xx

The wait should only be a few more months if you are a Virgin Media television customer.

[johala_reewi]

Wouldn't it be nice to just have easy web access to your beloved TIVO?

It is. This is not a Tivo problem. It's a networking problem.

You just need some way of getting from the internet to Tivo.
It is not made easy by ISPs assigning dynamic IP addresses.
There are a number of ways round this like static IP address, or gotoMyPC.

I can access Tivo over the internet from my Nokia phone to do ad hoc recording etc.
Great for when I am away and find out about a programme or new series I want to record.