Daily call every hour?

bcronin · 04-29-2005, 03:04 PM

I have two series 1 DirecTv-with-TiVo receivers. One (the primary) is a Philips DSR6000R01. The mirrored-to receiver is a Hughes GXCEBOT.

Lately I have noticed that the DSR6000 is making frequent brief outgoing call attempts (there is an "extension in use" light on the phone connected to the line, so I can see when it is trying; it seems to be trying about once an hour). The most recent time it did this I quickly picked up the phone and was able to hear the touchtones it was sending. I am not that big a geek that I could tell what the numbers were that it was dialing, but it was an 11 digit number and the first 4 sounded a lot like 1-800.

This is very odd, since I have the receiver set to make its daily call using a 7 digit local number. I also checked the status of the last phonecall and there was no indication that it had failed. I also ran a test call to the 7 digit number and that worked fine.

So I am confused. What the heck is this 800 number that it is dialing, and why is it trying to do it so often?

Anyone ever hear of anything like this?

OLdDog · 04-29-2005, 03:09 PM

Sounds like it is trying to call DTV. The DTV call is a seperate call from the TiVo call.

IT will try several times fairly quickly each day until it is able to get connection with DTV.

bcronin · 04-29-2005, 03:36 PM

What is the purpose of the call to DTV versus the call to TiVo? Why might it be trying so many times? I have the receivers connected to a measured-service line and I get charged 9 cents a call, so I would like to minimize the number of calls.

OLdDog · 04-29-2005, 03:49 PM

The purpose of the DTV call is to upload PPV info and other DTV subscription data. It seems that no call is truly needed as you can order PPV from the web or by ophone and the guide data comes from the sat.

If you have no phone line connected you will get nag screens after a while but nothing else bad seems to happen.

Since you have an interent connection you might want to try PPP over serial for the TiVo call.

PPP Info: You need a computer running XP or 2000 with an internet connection.

Quote:

This is the serial cable you need or you can use the cable that comes with a lot of TiVos and a null modem adaptor and a gender changer (F to F).

then read the text at this link to make the connection work:
http://www.tivohelp.com/archive/tivo...ki.net/45.html

I had little problem after I realized that the instructions were for an older version of XP and I just set the parameters as suggested in the text even though the menus were not exactly as shown.

Also you will probably want to turn off the Window's firewall and assign two IP addresses for your TiVo to use.

I also had to go to a slower speed than the default BUT that is probably because I needed to use a long cable. (I used 19200 I think)

bbristow · 04-30-2005, 12:11 AM

Seems like my daily calls were scheduled about 9 days apart on my old Hughes HDVR2 (running 3.1.1e) , but now they are every TWO DAYS on SD-DVR80 with same software! What is going on?

bcronin · 05-01-2005, 01:45 PM

Well, this is getting silly. I have been watching the phone and the darned receiver is calling out every hour. It can't be failing to connect every time, why is it calling so often? I wonder, might there be some requirement that the receiver be calling in on the same number that the account was originally associated with? When I converted my main telephone line to Vonage, I reconnected the receivers to my remaining analog line. So, they would be calling in from a different number than DirecTv has on file for me. Possible?

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 09:47 AM

Well I spent over an hour with DirecTv tech support on this issue yesterday. The bottom line is that it is the once-a-month call to DirecTv that is failing, not the regularly scheduled TiVo call. Those are working fine. The DirecTv call was supposed to have happened on April 28th for my account, according to the tech. Apparently it failed on that day, and it has been retrying it every hour since.

When it tries, I see two very short calls. Each lasts no more than 20 to 30 seconds. After the first one fails, it pauses about 10-15 seconds and then tries once more before giving up for another hour. I have two receivers in the house and both receivers are acting the very same way (which would tend to rule out a hardware issue with the receiver, since it is unlikely that both could have failed the same way at the same time). We tried changing various settings in the phone-setup (e.g. turning phone line detection on and off, adding various prefix strings to try to slow the modem down, etc.) all to no avail. Each time the tech triggered either receiver to phone-home, I'd see the two-short-call failures.

Several times I picked up the extension during the call just to see what was happening on the line. You could definitely hear the local and remote modems trying to handshake. So my best guess is that the root cause of the problem is that they are unable to complete the handshake for some reason. I'd suspect some issue with the phone-line or the local modem, but then the calls to TiVo work fine!

The tech told me that there are actually two modems in the receiver, one for TiVo calls and one for DirecTv calls, and that it is possible that the DirecTv modem failed in both receivers (but this seemed pretty unlikely to me). Both receivers are Series 1 DirecTv-with-TiVo boxes (one is a Philips DSR6000R01, the other a Hughes GXCEBOT). Both receivers have had their hard drive upgraded (one to 120GB, the other to 240GB), but the upgrades were done 2 years and 1 year ago respectively and unlikely to be related to these failures as things have been working fine until just recently.

I am at this point waiting a call back from a "supervisor" at DirecTv (supposedly to try to escalate the problem to the next level). It seems to me there ought to be a log file somewhere (either locally, or at the DirecTv end) that might have more information pertaining to the connection failures).

Is there any way I can get access to a local log file on the receivers that might reveal more information? Any other suggestions?

UR14Me · 05-05-2005, 10:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcronin

...the first 4 sounded a lot like 1-800.

Is it 1-866-709-2073?

My CallVantage log is full of outbound call attempts to this number, on the average of four per hour.

UR14Me

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 10:29 AM

Now *thats* interesting. That could well be the number, hard to tell, but I wonder ... do you also have two receivers? If so, this looks to me like you could be experiencing the same issue as I am. Two calls every attempt, two receivers, two attempts per hour, 4 calls per hour ... This may well be a more pervasive problem that only I have noticed so far. The only reason I noticed is because there is a phone on the line that has a red light that comes on every time the line is picked up (and I sit here all day working with that phone right next to me and since it is the only phone on the line, when I see the light come on by itself, I know it is one of the receivers). Do your calls occur in groups of two, that is, two calls in rapid succession?

UR14Me · 05-05-2005, 10:37 AM

I indeed have two DTivo's, and looking at the call log, there are indeed two calls to the same number within a minute or two of each other.

UR14Me

Rych6896 · 05-05-2005, 10:40 AM

I have the same issue:

One of my tivo's, t60, or hd250, has been calling this number: 866 709 2073 hundreds of times a day. The reason I know this is I have ATT Calladvantage and I can check my call logs.

The strange thing is, neither tivo has that number set as a call in number. I have a local number set for both tivo's. Tonight I hope to narrow down which tivo is the offender. According to the logs, this has been going on for two weeks.

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 10:42 AM

Do they occur every hour of the day, and for how many days has it been happening, can you tell? Do your logs go back that far?

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 10:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rych6896

I have the same issue:

One of my tivo's, t60, or hd250, has been calling this number: 866 709 2073 hundreds of times a day. The reason I know this is I have ATT Calladvantage and I can check my call logs.

The strange thing is, neither tivo has that number set as a call in number. I have a local number set for both tivo's. Tonight I hope to narrow down which tivo is the offender. According to the logs, this has been going on for two weeks.

Right, this number is not the TiVo number, this is the DirecTv number. It is for reporting PPV events and stuff like that. Can you too check your logs to see how long this has been going on? I bet it is both your receivers. Both of mine are doing it. One receiver makes its two calls at 35 minutes past the hour. The other at 10 minutes past.

Oh and my receivers are connected to a regular analog line, so I doubt it has anything to do with broadband phone service.

Rych6896 · 05-05-2005, 11:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcronin

Do they occur every hour of the day, and for how many days has it been happening, can you tell? Do your logs go back that far?

I went back in the call logs and found out they started on 4/13/05 at 12:13 PM. It looks like my tivo actuallt tries calling around 32 times per day in 2 call increments.

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 11:12 AM

Ok, so I bet the 13th is your day to call. Check back and see if there was a call on March 13th to that same number, if possible and then none until April 13, and then the zillions-per-day since then.

Rych6896 · 05-05-2005, 11:52 AM

There was a call to 800 713 9274. My guess is DTV changed the call in number on that date and it is screwed up going forward.

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rych6896

There was a call to 800 713 9274. My guess is DTV changed the call in number on that date and it is screwed up going forward.

Interesting. So there was a call to that number on the 13th of March (that number definitely has a modem on the other end, I called it to be sure) and then nothing until the 13th of April, when it began trying to call the new number, and it has failed ever since. That about sum it up?

Sure seems like the same issue.

Feel like tring to call it in? I have a feeling that the more they hear about this the better the chances someone will realize it is a widespread issue (and not just confined to me).

You can reference my original incident number if you like ...

DVR calling DirecTv every hour [Incident: 050501-000798]

(although that was the incident number assigned to the email I sent originally, which was answered simply telling me to call tech support, I sort of doubt when I called tech support that the original incident number was preserved). I know I have an open ticket at DirecTv because they have been trying to reach me for a day or so. We keep playing phone tag (they call at the oddest times of the day).

For what its worth, the latest person at DTV to call and leave me a message was "Jamie" at 800-695-9251. He is supposedly a supervisor.

Rych6896 · 05-05-2005, 12:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcronin

Interesting. So there was a call to that number on the 13th of March (that number definitely has a modem on the other end, I called it to be sure) and then nothing until the 13th of April, when it began trying to call the new number, and it has failed ever since. That about sum it up?

Sure seems like the same issue.

Feel like tring to call it in? I have a feeling that the more they hear about this the better the chances someone will realize it is a widespread issue (and not just confined to me).

You can reference my original incident number if you like ...

DVR calling DirecTv every hour [Incident: 050501-000798]

(although that was the incident number assigned to the email I sent originally, which was answered simply telling me to call tech support, I sort of doubt when I called tech support that the original incident number was preserved). I know I have an open ticket at DirecTv because they have been trying to reach me for a day or so. We keep playing phone tag (they call at the oddest times of the day).

For what its worth, the latest person at DTV to call and leave me a message was "Jamie" at 800-695-9251. He is supposedly a supervisor.

I'll call in later today, when I'm at home and can plug the phone line back into the tivo

scottt · 05-05-2005, 02:43 PM

I have the same problem. Something (I have a T-60 and a HDVR2) is dialing 18667092073 many many times. I'm on the phone with DTV (using the 800 # above right now).

bcronin · 05-05-2005, 09:16 PM

Any progress?

scottt · 05-06-2005, 09:53 AM

Ok, I disconnected the HDVR2 last night. The calls are still happening with the same frequency. I'll disconnect the T-60 next.

bcronin · 05-06-2005, 09:56 AM

That will stop the calls, guaranteed ;-)

scottt · 05-06-2005, 03:23 PM

True, but I still need to fix the issue (or should I say DTV needs to fix the issue)

bcronin · 05-06-2005, 03:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottt

True, but I still need to fix the issue (or should I say DTV needs to fix the issue)

Absolutely. It is probably happening to all sorts of people and nobody has really noticed. Since it seems to happen with many different kinds of receivers, I suspect some problem at the DirecTv end. Maybe a bad bank of modems, or something. They aren't calling me back anymore, so I guess I'll have to start bugging them again. Going to be Monday before I can do that. In the meantime if you or anyone else has any luck with them (or finding a workaround other than unplugging the phoneline), post here please. Thanks.

Fish Man · 05-06-2005, 03:30 PM

It's happening to me too. I've go 4 DirecTiVos!

That's lots of call attempts!!

wrf · 05-06-2005, 07:16 PM

I am seeing similar behavior. I have a DSR6000 hacked to place its "daily" call over a network interface. I also have a stock R10. A few weeks ago I noticed our telephone going active for no apparent reason rather frequently. Both DTIVO boxes were connected to an analog phone line, so I decided to switch them both over to a Vonage line I have. That way I could track the time and number of the calls.

Well, after a little bit of expermentation, I concluded that the DSR6000 was responsible for all the calls. It has been placing two calls at 2, sometimes 4 hour intervals day and night. Phone number is 1-866-709-2073.

I don't think the hacks installed in the DSR6000 are directly responsible for the problem since it has been operating just fine for over a year. However, it is a bit suspicious that the R10 seems fine.

I think I'll call direct TV. I'll post any answers.

super dave · 05-07-2005, 08:43 AM

I'm averaging 20 call attempts a day with my 1 SAT-T60 to 1-866-709-2073! My daily calls are now working with the Beta firmware for my Linksys RT31P2, but apparently the Mothership calls are failing. I'm glad to finally get the daily calls to work, we are moving and I won't have such an easy time using the PPP over Serial, the PC and TiVo will be 2 1/2 floors apart, but this barrage of calls is annoying.

Francesco · 05-07-2005, 12:27 PM

Well, upping the ante:

All six of mine are Series 1. Some of my units have no phone lines hooked up. No biggie, right? Well, the one we order PPV from is connected through Vonage (DirecTV) and Cache Card (TiVo). The Vonage calls are flaky at best, but usually eventually get through. I check the Vonage logs and around the same time each month I can see it start dialing DirecTV. It repeats frequently until it gets through. Last time was April 3rd. Good, right? I'm not near the $200 limit on my card, so it should be fine. Except starting the 3rd of May, I get Ext. 733 on the screen, which apparently means it has not called back in 31 days.

I've been on the phone with various CSRs/TSRs over the last couple of days, with conflicting mis-information from all of them.

I'm on the line right now with Retention. He seems real nice and wants to be helpful (contrary to the last TSR with whom I spoke). But it seems I'm going in circles here. All I want is for them to get rid of the 733 cut-off, and let the flaky call attempts continue like they always did. We order tons of stuff and pay on time (automatically with direct-charges on a Visa card). I told him it seems like the DTV callback number has changed and is affecting S|1 users. He said, "Maybe."

Francesco · 05-07-2005, 12:30 PM

Dave, you say that the DirecTV calls are failing, or the TiVo ones? I may have to go on eBay and get a different ATA (an old Cisco 186, which worked fine before) or a Linksys that is upgradeable (I have a PAP2). The worst part is, they may want to have me exchange it for an S|2, which I don't necessarily want (Cache Card rocks!).

bcronin · 05-07-2005, 12:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Francesco

Well, upping the ante:

All six of mine are Series 1. Some of my units have no phone lines hooked up. No biggie, right? Well, the one we order PPV from is connected through Vonage (DirecTV) and Cache Card (TiVo). The Vonage calls are flaky at best, but usually eventually get through. I check the Vonage logs and around the same time each month I can see it start dialing DirecTV. It repeats frequently until it gets through. Last time was April 3rd. Good, right? I'm not near the $200 limit on my card, so it should be fine. Except starting the 3rd of May, I get Ext. 733 on the screen, which apparently means it has not called back in 31 days.

I've been on the phone with various CSRs/TSRs over the last couple of days, with conflicting mis-information from all of them.

I'm on the line right now with Retention. He seems real nice and wants to be helpful (contrary to the last TSR with whom I spoke). But it seems I'm going in circles here. All I want is for them to get rid of the 733 cut-off, and let the flaky call attempts continue like they always did. We order tons of stuff and pay on time (automatically with direct-charges on a Visa card). I told him it seems like the DTV callback number has changed and is affecting S|1 users. He said, "Maybe."

Well, there have been people in this thread who are affected who are not using series 1 receivers. Further, I am not using broadband phone service. Its a regular old Verizon POTS line. So I'd like to avoid the trap of the problem being shrugged off by DTV as only affecting non-POTS users (or series 1 receiver users).