Activating DVR service with dial up only (no satellite)

richardwhc · 08-23-2009, 09:10 PM

Does the RCA DVR 40 Directv Tivo need to be connected to both satellite input and phone line AT SAME TIME to make the dial up call to (re)activate the Directv Tivo service?

I recently had to reinstall the Tivo software Instant cake 6.4a on my DVR after the hard disk failed. However Directv require a landline to activate the DVR Tivo service on this older model and I now only have Vonage Service with Motorola VT2142 ( i have spent many hours fiddling with the settings I have gleaned from the internet and it just won;t make the call)

So plan on taking my unit to work where I have a land line but no satellite dishes, and I am hoping when it calls in to activate the service, that it doesn't need the satellite hooked up at the same time.

Anybody had to do this?

rbtravis · 08-23-2009, 10:15 PM

The problem is with vonage it is not compatable with Directv tivo. you need a bell labs type phone service. Perhaps you can take your receiver to a friends.

catocony · 08-23-2009, 11:59 PM

Uh, Travis, I think that's what he was asking.......I don't think you read beyond the first paragraph.

I tried this a few years ago and it worked fine. Certainly a pain in the butt, but doable.

Do you live near someone with a land line? I had to run about a hundred feet of phone line - a couple of connectors and some long runs of cable - to a neighbors to download the time zone code back in 2007. You could probably do the same.

I got a valid dial-in over Vonage the first two times back in 2006, when I had a temporary move and ported everything to Vonage with no land line. After the first couple of successful runs, I could never get a connection again, and I spent hours on this site and others trying every known possible solution. No modems work much, if at all, over Vonage. Fax machines, nothing.

scottt · 08-24-2009, 07:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbtravis

The problem is with vonage it is not compatable with Directv tivo. you need a bell labs type phone service. Perhaps you can take your receiver to a friends.

Really? So when my DiTiVo has been saying for the past 3 years that it's "daily" call (using Vonage) is successful, it's lying?

stevel · 08-24-2009, 08:13 AM

I'm pretty sure that a satellite signal is not required to be seen to do the first call activation.

As for Vonage, some people have success with it, some don't.

richardwhc · 08-25-2009, 08:09 AM

After trying it without satellite input, the activation failed. During the download phase of the call, the 'must acquire satellite signal' window pops open. the call eventually succeeds, however the tivo service remains deactivated.
I'm going to ask my neighbor if I might be able to borrow his landline to activate my tivo and see if if he thinks I'm completely insane, or not.
thanks for your help catsocony et al.

cramer · 08-28-2009, 10:09 PM

a) a phone line is not required. You can use PPP over the serial line instead.
b) the system will always report dvr service as unavailable unless it's seeing the sat data stream. (at any rate, it has to be connected to the dish to have anything to "DVR" in the first place.)

parzec · 09-07-2009, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cramer

a) a phone line is not required. You can use PPP over the serial line instead.
b) the system will always report dvr service as unavailable unless it's seeing the sat data stream. (at any rate, it has to be connected to the dish to have anything to "DVR" in the first place.)

Can you verify that PPP is currently working for DirecTivos? I have a v3.1 that I can connect to my computer with a null modem, gets an IP assigned, but can't get past negotiating.

rbtravis · 09-07-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by parzec

Can you verify that PPP is currently working for DirecTivos? I have a v3.1 that I can connect to my computer with a null modem, gets an IP assigned, but can't get past negotiating.

you version is to old. version 3.1 had modem problems

parzec · 09-08-2009, 08:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbtravis

you version is to old. version 3.1 had modem problems

OK -- so I am going to put a 6.0 image into the Tivo and see if I can repeat a guided setup to marry the drive. When you say modem problems -- is that both for dial up and PPP? I am using an external 33.6 sportster for dial up, and obviously no modem for PPP. Is PPP affected by this glitch?

(I guess I will find out shortly by trial and error)

parzec · 09-08-2009, 10:04 AM

ll -- guess there won't be any trial and error, by drive with 6.1 on it won't even spin. Can anybody PM me a link to a 6.1 image for the HR10? I figure there has to be one on rapidshare somewhere.....

parzec · 09-17-2009, 10:17 AM

Well, never got a PM with the image so I persisted with the original idea of using a Sportster 33.6 modem which I got on ebay for $5.00. I just left it connected to my phone line (vonage) and forgot about it for a few days when *voila* it connected and updated to 6.x sometime in the middle of the night --- great solution.