[Vilandra08]

Hi I know this has been asked a ton, but I have been going through all the directions for connecting my laptop and TiVo via a crossover cable and I just can't get it to work. Help!

I have a Series 2 TiVo and I am running Windows XP on the laptop, and it has a wireless internet connection and an ethernet port as well.

I enabled internet connection sharing on the laptop, but TiVo Desktop doesn't see the TiVo, and when I go to Phone & Network Settings and try to use network it just says it can't see any network - so I can't set a static IP for it. I used Angry IP Scanner to try and ping the TiVo but it doesn't find it.

In my Network Connections, I have the wireless connection, a 1394 connection, a LAN connection and a network bridge.

Does anyone have any idea what I'm missing?

I know that getting a router would be the easiest thing, but I can't really spend the money on it right now. I just bought a Linksys USB11 (ver 3) thinking that would do the trick to connect my laptop and the TiVo, but that didn't work.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Chester_Lampwick]

Hmmm..... there's many things that could be wrong with that scenario.

1 - There's no DHCP server. Typically you let the TiVo obtain its IP address from the router.
2 - There's no internet connection for the TiVo. It probably needs to call into TiVo with a broadband connection to enable network features.
3 - A lot of hardware is auto-sensing. You may not need a crossover cable.

Of course I'm going to recommend a router. You may be able to pickup one for free, or at least very cheap. I have many non-wireless ones just collecting dust. Ask around at your office/school or whatever. Even a hub, or switch might do the trick. There's less security, but you likely have a software firewall on the PC and I don't believe TiVos have ever been the targets of attack.

 

[Dan203]

If the TiVo is not detecting the network connection at all then your problem is physical and not software related. You didn't say what kind of TiVo you have, but if it's an older model which requires a USB adapter for Ethernet then you're probably using an incompatible USB adapter. If it's a newer unit, like a S2DT or S3, with a built in Ethernet port then it could be the cable or the laptop's Ethernet connection. First thing to do is make 100% sure you're using is a crossover cable. Then check the laptop's Device Manager and make sure there are no disabled network adapters. Also make sure your laptop's network drivers are up to date.

If the TiVo can detect the network but fails to obtain an IP or times out while trying to connect to the TiVo service then you have a software/networking problem. But if it says there is no network at all then you've got a physical connection problem.

Dan

 

[steve614]

Here's a list of compatible wired adapters

My guess is either an incompatible USB adapter or a firewall problem.

 

[s2kdave]

Did you build the crossover cable? I would make sure the wires are the proper configuration:

http://www.netspec.com/helpdesk/wiredoc.html

Then I would ping the ip of the tivo to see if you get a response. If you do, then the hardware is setup properly. If your tivo doesn't have an ip, you probably need to disable DHCP on the network configuration on your tivo and specify an IP manually since there is no router. Then try to ping it again. Also make sure the IP is on the same subnet as your computer or it won't receive the multicast packets.

Example:
Tivo: 192.168.1.101
PC (the network connection for the crossover cable): 192.168.1.150

They are both on the 192.168.1.x subnet

 

[kt24]

I have done it and s2kdave is correct. The most important thing is make sure both have the same subnet. Usually the computer subnet is set to by default 255.255.255.0

 

[s2kdave]

right, forgot to mention the subnet mask being 255.255.255.0 in my example. Thanks for clarifying.

 

[Dr_Diablo]

I had the same problem until I disabled the Firewall

 

[Vilandra08]

Thanks for all the responses guys : )

You didn't say what kind of TiVo you have, but if it's an older model which requires a USB adapter for Ethernet then you're probably using an incompatible USB adapter.

I have a Series 2, and I am using a USB adapter that someone on the TiVo site community was successfully using with their Series 2. It just says it's a USB to RJ-45 Ethernet Adapter.

First thing to do is make 100% sure you're using is a crossover cable. Then check the laptop's Device Manager and make sure there are no disabled network adapters. Also make sure your laptop's network drivers are up to date.

I'm definitely using a crossover cable - I purchased it to transfer files between two computers and used it successfully in the past to do so. It's a Belkin and it says cat 5e on it. All my network adapters are enabled, and all the drivers are up to date.

Then I would ping the ip of the tivo to see if you get a response. If you do, then the hardware is setup properly. If your tivo doesn't have an ip, you probably need to disable DHCP on the network configuration on your tivo and specify an IP manually since there is no router. Then try to ping it again. Also make sure the IP is on the same subnet as your computer or it won't receive the multicast packets.

This is where I'm lost lol - I don't know how to set the IP/subnet mask for the Tivo because I can't seem to get to the settings screens where it allows you to do that. When I try to go to "use network instead" it says "Sorry, the network adapter (or other device) you plugged in is not supported for use with this TiVo DVR." It tell me that whether I plug the TiVo into the wireless adapter I bought (Linksys USB11 ver 3) or into the laptop. If I try to go to "Music, Photos & More" and add the IP of my computer, it says it cannot find the server at that address. TiVo Desktop also does not see any items in my Now Playing List.

I did disable the Windows firewall but that hasn't seemed to make any difference.

: )

 

[erikg]

What is the IP of your Lan adapter on your windows based PC? You can find out by either opening a command line (start, run, cmd and hit enter) typing ipconfig or right clicking and viewing the status and then details of the Lan adapter.

Are you trying to use ICS (internet connection sharing)? When you run the wizard it should setup your network adapters for you. Although if you are trying to turn your wireless adapter on your PC into an access point theres an additional step there to take.

 

[Vilandra08]

When I typed in ipconfig, I got this:

Ethernet adapter Wireless Network Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix:
IP Address: 10.0.0.9
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway: 10.0.0.1

Ethernet adapter Network Bridge:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix:
IP Address: 192.168.0.1
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
Default Gateway:

I have been trying to do this using ICS (because the instructions I found connecting without a router told me to do it that way lol).

----

Interesting thing I just realized lol - what the person I bought it from told me was a Linksys WUSB11 wireless adapter is really a Linksys BEFW11S4 Wireless-B 4 Port Router. But since I don't have cable or DSL, I guess it really won't do anything for me as far as connecting my laptop and tivo, right? Now that I have to return it anyway, what is the best way for me to just be able to transfer files between my tivo and laptop? I don't mind using the phone connection for program info and stuff. Should I just get a wired adapter?

 

[erikg]

So your setup is a tivo connected to your PC's network adapter using a crossover cable and running ICS to share the wireless internet connection. That should work just with the ICS setup wizard walking you through the steps.

Do the leds on your wired adapters turn on during the process? it should show transmission and on most pcs when you plug in an ethernet cable the link lights come on. May be a bad cable?

 

[s2kdave]

go to the tivo's network settings. It should say at the top the status of the network along with the IP address. What is that IP address? If it's not there, your tivo needs to be configured.

 

[Chester_Lampwick]

When I try to go to "use network instead" it says "Sorry, the network adapter (or other device) you plugged in is not supported for use with this TiVo DVR." It tell me that whether I plug the TiVo into the wireless adapter I bought (Linksys USB11 ver 3) or into the laptop.

I'm pretty troubled by this message. It states outright that the TiVo has no drivers to use this network adapter. I think that makes everything else down the line of little or no consequence.

Finding a compatible USB adapter is very important and exceedingly hard to do. A google search of "USB11 ver 3" yields this post:
Linksys WUSB11 Ver. 3.0

Here's the meat:

Posted by: TiVoOpsMgr
Sorry that you ran into this issue. Yes, it's true, the 3.0 version of the WUSB11 adapter unfortunately uses a new chipset which has hardware-level compatibility issues with the original Series2 units (those units that have TiVo Service Numbers that begin with 130 and 140, like yours).​

I don't know if you have a 140/240 unit or whether newer software updates have resolved this issue, but I'd call this ominous.

Hope this helps,
Roger

 

[Vilandra08]

Thanks Roger, Dave & Erik

Do the leds on your wired adapters turn on during the process? it should show transmission and on most pcs when you plug in an ethernet cable the link lights come on. May be a bad cable?

Yep, the lights come on on both ends of the cable. It's possible that the cable is bad, but I've only used it a couple of times in the past.

go to the tivo's network settings. It should say at the top the status of the network along with the IP address. What is that IP address? If it's not there, your tivo needs to be configured.

It just says "no connection" there but it won't let me configure anything from there.

I'm pretty troubled by this message. It states outright that the TiVo has no drivers to use this network adapter. I think that makes everything else down the line of little or no consequence.

...

Posted by: TiVoOpsMgr
Sorry that you ran into this issue. Yes, it's true, the 3.0 version of the WUSB11 adapter unfortunately uses a new chipset which has hardware-level compatibility issues with the original Series2 units (those units that have TiVo Service Numbers that begin with 130 and 140, like yours).​

I don't know if you have a 140/240 unit or whether newer software updates have resolved this issue, but I'd call this ominous.

My S/N starts with 240, so the linksys wusb11 is on tivo's list as working for me. However, it seems the person I bought it from sent me the wrong one.

But if the TiVo isn't seeing any adapter being connected at all, wired or wireless, then that means that it's an adapter problem and not a problem with how I set up ICS? Is that right? So my next step should be to get a supported adapter, wired or unwired, right?

Thanks guys

 

[Vilandra08]

Just updating that I got a new adapter and it's working. Thanks for all your help!

 

[Chester_Lampwick]

I appreciate that you didn't leave us hanging. I hate it when you don't hear if the problem ever got resolved