[Mephistopheles]

Hello,

I'm trying to setup my Tivo to use a PPP Serial connection to my Windows XP PC for its "calls to home."

I followed every step listed on http://www.tivohelp.com (click on Establish a Serial Cable Connection with Tivo). I have Tivo software 3.0 or higher, I have a PPP Serial cable w/ null modem adapter (from 9thtee.com), and followed all the troubleshooting steps that applied to me.

My Tivo does connect to my pc, it is assigned an ip address by my Linksys Broadband Router (model BEFW11S4), and in general seems to have no issue communicating with my PC.

Unfortunately my Tivo only says "Negotiating" at the connecting prompt and eventually times out, saying connection failed while negotiating.

I do have a firewall and disabled that just in case it was causing problems, but that failed to resolve the issue.

If anyone has any ideas, helpful advice, or know why I'm having this issue, your help would be most appreciated. Thanks

 

[Mephistopheles]

I almost forgot something.

I don't know if it makes a difference, but it is a DirecTV receiver type Tivo made by Phillips, model DSR7000/17

 

[omnifarius]

I'm having problems getting my connection to work as well. I have the Hughes SD-DVR40 Directivo with software version 3.1.1c and my network is on a Linksys BEFSR41 Router. I have the null modem serial cable from 9thtee. I'm running Win2k on the box I'm trying to connect to.

I followed the instructions posted above and read through as many other troubleshooting tips as I could find in the (un)supported broadband thread but nothing has helped yet. The test call gets to the 'connecting' stage and never actually connects.

When I try hyperterminal to check the connection, all I get is

~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}
$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&}
} } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À
!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}
"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } }
} }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~~ }#À!}!}!} }4}"}&} } } } }%}&¸Þ}$ä}'}"}(}"P}^~

and I don't see the "User Request" phrase mentioned in the troubleshooting tips with the tivohelp.com article. Different port speeds just give me different amounts of the same garbage but still no "user request" anywhere in there.

In my router settings, I haven't changed much from the default so I don't think there would be a problem there. I use the DHCP server rather than static but the tivo never seems to get an IP while trying to connect to my PC/network. I don't see an option in my router to enable SPI which was mentioned a few times in that huge ethernet howto thread. Also trying to allow VPN in the connections never seemed to work either.

Any other advice would be appreciated as I'd like to be able to get this up and running so I can move on to worrying about putting some bigger drives in my new toy. Thanks.

 

[yoneltx]

Omnifarius...Did you get your issue solved...I am having the same problem. I have a HUghes SD_DVR40 running 3.1*** software. My pc has XP. I made the cable myself though (just 3 feet long) . Any ideas anybody .

I use hyperterminal, get the 6 lines of data starting with "~" but don't get "User Request".

According to the diagrams circulating around this furoms, I only have to connect pins 2,3,5 of DB9 to 3 wires of stereo plug right? Just 3 wires connection?

Best wishes


Yonel

Hughes SD-DVR40
software 3.1.****

 

[cactus46]

When you followed the instructions modifying mdmhayes.inf, did you all delete mdmhayes.pnf and then reboot? This is an important step because without the modified instructions in the mdmhayes.inf, the whole exercise will fail.
Also, when the Win XP machine upgrades to SP 2, it also wipes out the changes in the mdmhayes.inf and mdmhayes.pnf files. This also causes failure.
In some instances it is a good idea to specify two IP addresses to be assigned when TiVo makes its call. It is best in my opinion to use two IP address that would not be assigned by the router. This is less confusing. The relationship between the PC conntected to the TiVo is one of client/server. The PC then uses the IP address assigned by the router to talk to the WAN--the outside world/ TiVo's home bse.

If you are seeing characters on your computer with Hyperterminal from the TiVo, then your serial cable is ok in my opinion. My guess the problem lies in the changes to the '.inf' and '.pnf' files. See if you can determine what IP address is given to the <unauthenticated user> properties.

In Win XP, (I have no experience with a W2k computer but it should be similar) when TiVo goes to make the Daily Call, one can click on 'Start/Connect to/ (or Network Connections)/ Show all connections. One should then see <Unauthenticated User> pop up when TiVo tries to connect while making a Test Call or Daily Call. Double clicking on the <Unauthenticated User> will show the Status of the request and the clicking on 'Details' should show the assigned IP addresses--client and server. If we are not getting this far then perhaps we will have to back up a little.

Please let us know if this response helps.

John

 

[yoneltx]

Thanks for the replay john...

OK...now i got it to negotiate with XP, using IP address.

However, its failing during negotiation.

My hayes.pnf file was deleted and the system was also rebooted!

Any ideas?

 

[yoneltx]

I finally got the connection to work. It connected, negotiated and downloaded some data. I disabled my norton firewall and the XP firewall. I also made my ip range from 168.192.0.1 to 168.192.0.100.

Once the data was downloaded, i try to connect again and the connection failed in the negotiating stage, and it has been failing ever since.

Once I checked the system info in my TiVo, I could see that the DirectTV status said - programing suspended!

Could it been that direct TV now has a way to detect the ppp conections and disabling the programing?

Thanks!

 

[cactus46]

Is 168.192.0.1 to 168.192.0.100 a transposed IP address? Try an address like 192.168.0.19 and 192.168.0.20. That's all it needs is two IP addresses. I doubt if it would work with WAN or big Internet addresses. 192.168.xxx.xxx are valid LAN addresses which should work.

Did you Cut'n'Paste the appropriate additions to the mdmhayes.inf, delete the mdmhayes.pnf file, and then reboot?

I would not try to slow the settings down for the serial link. Use the ,#211 in the TiVo 'Dial Prefix' and be sure the modem is setup for 115 kbps in the properties. My TiVo and computer work great with the 115 kbps settings. Most computer serial ports will handle the 115 kbps without a problem. Be sure that the 'flow control' is set to 'off', too.

My initial setup failed, too. Going back and starting over from the beginning cleared up the failue issue I was initially having. If all else fails, try setting up the Serial to PPP a second time. You will become proficient at it.

My PPP connections work fine with my DirecTV TiVo.

I hope we are making progress.

John

 

[yoneltx]

Yes, it was a transposed ip address: I typed it wrong in the previous post. It was the right way in the ip setup though!

However, I followed your advice and used

192.168.0.8 to 192.168.0.9 range...

And now I can connect every time (even with my norton firewall and my XP built-in firewall on.)

Thanks for all your help John



Yonel

 

[cactus46]

That's good news, Yonel! Thanks for letting us know of your success.

I wonder how omnifarius and Mephistopheles are doing with their setups? Perhaps no news is good news, too?


John

 

[chicagochris]

I am having the same issue as others here:

HR10-250
Serial cable from 9tee.com
Broadband
Linksys Router

My Tivo makes the connection to the PC but craps out at the negotiating portion (so i know the cable works). I have triple checked all of the PC configs described in all of the docs here and all look good.

My question is

1. Do i need to specify a phone number in the Tivo setup even while using PPP
2. Is there a setting perhaps in my physical router i need to make?

Thanks in advance!

Chris

 

[cactus46]

Chris,

If it your call gets to the 'negotiating' stage then the telephone number is a non-issue. You are using the ,#211 dialing prefix which tells the call to use the serial port on the TiVo.

Answer to your second question: If computer connects to the Internet via the router and you don't restrict it, then there should be no changes you need to make to the router.

As mentioned earlier in this thread, what IP addresses is your computer giving to the TiVo?

"In Win XP, (I have no experience with a W2k computer but it should be similar) when TiVo goes to make the Daily Call, one can click on 'Start/Connect to/ (or Network Connections)/ Show all connections. One should then see <Unauthenticated User> pop up when TiVo tries to connect while making a Test Call or Daily Call. Double clicking on the <Unauthenticated User> will show the Status of the request and the clicking on 'Details' should show the assigned IP addresses--client and server. If we are not getting this far then perhaps we will have to back up a little."

John

 

[chicagochris]

Thanks. I am getting that far. I can see the client connection, the users connection etc. It just keeps negotiating...

I am going to try and add the two static Ip addresses that others seem to have success with.

 

[cactus46]

chicagochris,

I'll be on vacation for a month and won't be visiting the forum for that time.

If you have never had Serial to PPP working, then I would double check the changes to the mdmhayes.inf file, delete the mdmhayes.pnf file if the changes to the .inf file look correct and then reboot. Avoid playing with the 115 kbps speed because the default 115 k and the ,#211 should work fine with most of today's computers.

If you had Serial to PPP working and it quit, then it might have been because your computer's Win XP upgraded to SP 2 automatically replacing the mdmhayes.inf/.pnf files?

Anyway, keep posting here on your progress and I hope someone helps you as needed.

Good luck.

John

 

[chicagochris]

Thanks for the help. I rebooted, waited a day came back and it worked....very odd but again...thanks for the help.

 

[omnifarius]

I guess I need to check the boards more often. I didn't even realize there were this many replies to the topic. Sorry about that.

I still haven't gotten my serial connection to work yet. I put that aside until after I had upgraded my hard drive. And once I upgraded my hard drive successfully, I ended up getting a wireless USB adapter to eventually use to connect my tivo. Of course, I haven't gotten that working yet either, but I haven't been paying much attention to it. Once I get close to filling up the hard drive I'll need to be able to transfer shows off to burn onto DVD. When that time comes, I'll probably get it all set up.

I would still eventually like to get the serial connection to work, but if I get the wireless adapter working, I will be able to use that for everything the serial connection would have done so it seems like a moot point. Thanks for the replies and hopefully I'll be able to figure it out eventually.

 

[Toeside]

I'm having some trouble with PPP over Serial.

It works fine on my HR10-250 (HD TiVo) but when the daily call takes place on my DSR6000, it reboots.

Any clue?

Craig

 

[etsolow]

Hmm, I'm having the same problem (call hangs at "negotiating"). I've checked Hyperterminal and while I do see some junk coming through, I never see the "User Request" like I guess I should, regardless of port speed settings. I've tried both DHCP and static IP addresses for the incoming connection, either way I can ping the IP that gets assigned. Anyone have any ideas for me?

(Other stuff I've tried: disable XP firewall, reboot PC, various IP addresses in various ranges (both on my subnet and off), recreate incoming connection, various port speeds from 9600 - 115.2).

EDIT: OK, I tried again with IP addresses in my subnet range, and now I can connect via PPP to download the local number list, but it fails on "configuring" when I try a test call. Does that mean anything? If it can dial for the local number list, why can't it complete a test call?

EDIT2: While my HR10-250 returns the above error, my HDVR2 seems to be working fine. It is connected and downloading as I speak. The same setup should work on an HDTiVo too, right? I wonder what's goin' on there...

 

[gordo]

I'm wondering if there is a HR10-250 issue. I'm having the same (failing on negotiating) problem. Se my post here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2398199#post2398199

 

[ManNantuck]

I have tried the PPP fo a while now. 1) modified mdmhayes, 2) deleted the pnf file. 3) the Tivo and computer are definately communicating - The connection registers sent and received packets.

The issue is that the Tivo is not getting an internet conneciton. I have tried using the 192.168.0.100 to 110 range. Is there anything else I can be missing? The computer is a win2000 machine.