Instantcake 6.4a now available

rbtravis · 09-22-2008, 01:33 PM

DVRupgrade has released Instantcake 6.4a!
"we've also released a new version of InstantCake with 6.4a; there is a different version for EACH SD DirecTiVo as there has been in the past. There are no free updates to this version as it is a different version altogether."

As we have seen from this forum it is important to have a different release for each type of machine because certain brands such as the Philips DSR7000 would not permit downloads because of code unique to that manufacturer. DVRupgrade is a supporter of this forum and has stuck with this forum through thick and thin times. If you want the latest and greatest software you should order it now! If you have any questions look at the results of this poll.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=404601

bengalfreak · 09-22-2008, 05:05 PM

I would be very hesitant to purchase this IC version if you are expecting it to take care of the SP not recording issue on DTivos. Not saying this isn't a great product, just that the upgrade doesn't seem to solve the problem 100% of the time.

rbtravis · 09-22-2008, 05:23 PM

BengalFreak:
As this update just came out today, have you purchased it yet, if so what were the results of your tests, if not what are you basing your comments on? You can't condemn something you have not tried. If it failed how did you make it fail? Or are you just being negative based on your polling data which showed a 95% plus success rate.

By the way I currently have 6.4a working on 16 machines 8 active and 8 inactive. It installed without error on all machines. None of which were hacked, because I believe that hacking can cause errors. I would rather watch Tivo than spend my time finding errors.

tivoupgrade · 09-23-2008, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bengalfreak

I would be very hesitant to purchase this IC version if you are expecting it to take care of the SP not recording issue on DTivos. Not saying this isn't a great product, just that the upgrade doesn't seem to solve the problem 100% of the time.

This is a good point. I've not gotten any strong indicators that 6.4a is the 'fix' for the season pass problem.

Clearly, something has changed in the way DIRECTV data is handled and distributed to these units; if that were not the case, some folks that have been happily running 6.2a would not have started to have problems so recently.

I've not heard of anyone with 6.4a having these SP problems either, but I agree with bengalfreak in his caution - and we are not positioning the product as a specific solution to that problem.

With that in mind, let me put things into better perspective...

There are two versions of InstantCake being maintained for the Series2 SD DirecTiVo models.

The first is based upon 6.2a and it will continue to be offered for the foreseeable future. The reason we've stuck with 6.2a and continue to offer and recommend it for our PTVnet kits is because 6.2a contains code for HMO and MRV that can be easily unlocked and put into play, by following a few simple instructions, if you've networked your unit.

The second is based upon 6.4a and we've finally released it because some folks, especially those who are not interested in networking their units, wanted to ensure that when repairing/upgrading a unit, they were configuring it with the latest version containing the recently deleted items feature and also worked with DIRECTV's remote scheduling feature. Obviously, for those with networked units the remote scheduling is redundant, and for many, the benefits of MRV far outweigh the ability to undelete programs...

Lastly, and I know this is a bit off-topic, we've updated the corresponding PTVnet version so that it works with both the 6.2a and 6.4a version of the system software; that means it will work fine in conjunction with both versions of InstantCake as well as any drive created using MFStools, IC or any other method, as far as I know.

Hope that helps put it into better context...

Lou

dcstager · 09-23-2008, 11:02 AM

And no one who answered the poll saying they had a problem with 6.4a has posted any details about any problem they are having.

bengalfreak · 09-23-2008, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbtravis

BengalFreak:
As this update just came out today, have you purchased it yet, if so what were the results of your tests, if not what are you basing your comments on? You can't condemn something you have not tried. If it failed how did you make it fail? Or are you just being negative based on your polling data which showed a 95% plus success rate.

By the way I currently have 6.4a working on 16 machines 8 active and 8 inactive. It installed without error on all machines. None of which were hacked, because I believe that hacking can cause errors. I would rather watch Tivo than spend my time finding errors.

rb, that's not what I meant at all. I didn't condemn anything. I haven't tried this version of Instant Cake as I am a 6.2a afficianado. I am only pointing out that some people in this forum who have updated to 6.4a, thru DirecTV not instant cake, have reported that the upgrade did not solve their season pass problem. For all I know, the new Instant Cake could be THE FIX. I just thought everyone should proceed with caution.

Being a repeat (several times) instant cake customer myself, I would never seek to disparage such a great product. At the same time, I think people should make sure they know what they are buying.

rbtravis · 09-23-2008, 09:25 PM

Bengalfreak:
Nothing wrong and I respect your opinion it was just in the poll results I saw no problem tied to 6.4a. I have all machines on 6.4a and have not experienced any problems. If there were any I would like to be made aware of them. Thank you for your input and I do respect your opinion. I was just asking if you found problems. If anything else was implied I apologize.

bengalfreak · 09-24-2008, 04:17 AM

The poll asks people that are having the season pass problem to state which software version they are using, 6.4a or something earlier. Currently 10 people have answered the poll that have software version 6.4a. So, I assume those 10 people have the problem. From threads in other forums, I have read about people taking the upgrade and it not solving the issue.

Currently, there is a thread in the Tivo HD forum about many series 3's suddenly developing a very similar problem leading one to believe it may not be as software dependent as the poll were to suggest.

dcstager · 09-24-2008, 09:32 AM

Not a one of the 10 people who responded to the poll posted any details about their problem. The poll is skewed. If someone posts something specific besides checking a box on a poll, we can move the discussion forward.

akaMelissa · 09-24-2008, 09:46 AM

::Raising Hand and Jumping up and down:: I answered!!!!! Upgrading from previous version to 6.4a did not fix my SP problems. I still have to have multiple SP's for various shows. I have four just for Without A Trace.

rbtravis · 09-24-2008, 10:08 AM

Do you have four on the same channel or four on different channels showing reruns of the same program? Have you set your season passes to first run only or are they set to all programs? Checked your post on the poll thread. Have you tried deleting and resetting the season passes and does the duplicating reappear?

tivoupgrade · 09-24-2008, 01:41 PM

Right, so the issue I want to drive home (because I am already getting PM's and helpdesk requests discussing this) is that we did not release InstantCake 6.4a as a "fix" for the season pass issue that now appears to be dominating this conversation.

Quite the contrary - we offered it because there appeared to be some limited demand for the 'latest and greatest' version of the software, and also appear to be some folks who are not receiving their updates from DIRECTV and would prefer to have the 'latest and greatest.'

Hopefully the offering gives people what they want, but again, I don't want to create an expectation regarding the 'fix' for the problems some folks are having. I have no basis for believing that the 'fix' will have to come from DIRECTV and it is likely something in their environment that is causing the problem, and not necessarily a change to your environment that is the solution.

Lou

rbtravis · 09-24-2008, 02:18 PM

It should be noted that out of 10 people that reported problems only one person chose to reply and after 4 hours waiting no reply occurred. If you are having problems maybe you should order a kit from www.DVRupgrade.com that comes with a new hard drive formatted with 6.4a. That should fix 99% of the problems. If you still have problems http://www.ccscorporation.net/dss.htm can fix it for $100.00. good luck

akaMelissa · 09-24-2008, 06:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbtravis

Do you have four on the same channel or four on different channels showing reruns of the same program? Have you set your season passes to first run only or are they set to all programs? Checked your post on the poll thread. Have you tried deleting and resetting the season passes and does the duplicating reappear?

I have two set for CBS and two set for TNT. CBS is first run only. I have deleted and reset. Today I noticed that Criminal Minds NEW RESET season pass will not record. Had to set yet another new one. I don't know if its just me since I did not upgrade until after the problem occurred but I'm still having problems.

Tomorrow when I am off I am writing down every single pass I have and deleting and reentering all of them. Although today when I did a search of Without A Trace I saw that there were only three listed instead of four like last time (One with no channel listing, one for CBS and one for TNT). I don't know if this is just me or what.

Sorry it took me so long to respond. Life, work and stuff. I've been a member for a long time not just a flake, just haven't really been active for awhile.

Edited to add: Oh, please don't let my problems stop you from ordering. I'm starting to think I may be one of the few having problems after upgrading and resetting SPs.

rbtravis · 09-24-2008, 07:39 PM

AKAMelissa:
How old is your hard drive? Could it be going bad? They only have an expected life of between 3 to 5 years. TiVos are hard on drives, running them 24 hours a day, 365ays a year. Hope that helps. Good Luck

ps. www.mfslive.org does have a drive testing routine called dd_rescue . it is free and may tell you if your drive is having problems.

akaMelissa · 09-24-2008, 08:38 PM

This may be my non blond hair talking but how would my hard drive going bad have anything to do with season passes? If I even felt it was the hard drive I have two back up D-tivos sitting in the closet waiting to be called to order. Either for their hard drive or for their whole package. I've been around along time, I've experienced hard drive failure. This isn't hard drive failure. This is Directv doing something with the ID's of the shows (my guess).

When I was a really really really newbie to Tivo I did a clear and delete at the suggestion of a CSR. Didn't fix the problem and I don't know of one problem that it really does fix but I'm getting to the point of trying it.

rbtravis · 09-24-2008, 08:58 PM

Directv has been having problems with guide data but that problem is resolving itself.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...60#post6709760
The Directv Tivo only has 4 parts, the motherboard, the front panel, the power supply,and the hard disk. Too many copies of 6.4a are in use to only have 1 person reporting this problem in the poll. Power supply is working or you could not watch TV. The only thing left as a point of possible failure is the disk, so why not test it and see if it may be the problem. I believe the test is non destructive so it should not hurt your saved programs. By the way you never told us how old the drive is? The date of manufacture is on the drive label on top of the drive.

sk33t3r · 09-30-2008, 10:04 PM

How about this, is it possible to stay with 6.2a? If so how would one go about ensuring the new show codes are up to date enabling season passes to function?

tivoupgrade · 09-30-2008, 10:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sk33t3r

How about this, is it possible to stay with 6.2a? If so how would one go about ensuring the new show codes are up to date enabling season passes to function?

You can definitely stay with 6.2a, and from what I am seeing, there are definitely people doing that.

I don't know of anyway to ensure that Season Passes function, though and from what I'm seeing, not everyone has this problem (in fact, unless there is a silent majority out there, most people aren't having the problem). Perhaps just using 'manual record' is a workaround that will work in most cases...

Lou

kdelande · 10-01-2008, 06:55 AM

I would check this thread on DBStalk.com

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=140509

It says you'll need 6.4a soon or else you'll have issues with passes due to data format changes.

KD

rock_doctor · 10-01-2008, 07:57 AM

I'm with Melissa. I had SP problems with a fresh install of 6.4a on a new hard drive (installed 6.2 then let D* update it). I have had to make all of my WGN SP shows record manually for day and time, which is working fine.

I am glad InstantCake is still available with 6.2a. If I needed a copy that is the one I will choose.

marrone · 10-01-2008, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kdelande

I would check this thread on DBStalk.com

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=140509

It says you'll need 6.4a soon or else you'll have issues with passes due to data format changes.

KD

It would be nice if DirecTV would send us 6.4a

.

-Mike