The number buttons on the remote allow you to quickly "jump" to some of the more common screens without navigating through the menus. Once you are familiar with TiVo, these can save you a lot of time! Note: As far as we know, these are not documented by TiVo, and may change or stop working in subsequent software releases! From The "TiVo Central" main screen (press the "TiVo" button to get here), press the following key (in software version 2.5) to:
"This is undocumented, but it is supported! Just hold down TiVo button + power button (like you do to put in the TV code), but punch in the receiver code instead. It will now power up both." Seems to work with volume control, as well.
From Richard: "You can add channels manually... you won't get program listings for them, but it works for flipping by. Try this.
Now, you will be able to surf through all the channels you added."
But, don't do this for Dish Network PPV channels, or you will get stuck when you hit a PPV, and have to hit channel up on the Dish remote (now where did you put that?) to get the Dish receiver unstuck.
One often-heard complaint is that TiVo does not support recording
from the AV input jacks as a "line in" input (like most VCRs do). A
work-around posted is (if you don't have satellite/cable) to tell
Guided Setup you have a satellite/cable, then delete all but one
channel from the fake satellite/cable, and use that for "line in"
recording.
While watching Live TV, pressing the right arrow repeatedly cycles you through three different TiVo program banners:
If you're watching something from Now Showing, you only get numbers 1. and 2., for some reason!
From Oh2Smooth: "When in live TV the enter button acts as a jump to the previously viewed channel."
From Oh2Smooth: "In the Setup menus is an option for TiVo receiver start. MAKE SURE not to select full system reset as this will wipe your TiVo of all information. Use the Restart Receiver option."
From Richard: "I'm going to give you the keys to one of TiVo's best Easter Eggs. Turn on Closed Captioning on your TV. Go into Browse by Name. Type in "SHAGWELL". Press Thumbs Up. Applaud loudly! This is a cool Easter Egg, because if you look closely, there are Easter Eggs within the Easter Egg."
Yes, this auto-correction on fast forward is a deliberate design feature when you're going at 20x or 60x speeds (2 and 3 arrows). The idea is that you FF,FF,FF, wait until you see the show restart, then press Play (or FF a fourth time) , and it should back up to just the beginning of the show (if you have Nintendo reflexes!). 60x backs up more than 20x, and 3x doesn't do it at all. It does the same thing on rewinding 20x and 60x, that is it jumps backward some more, which some have complained is just the opposite of what it should do.
If you hit Pause while fast-forwarding instead of Play, TiVo doesn't back up at all.
Check out the instructions TiVo's webpage. I can't link to the page directly, but start at the TiVo Support page. Then choose "Online Help", select your TiVo model, select "Remote Control" and pick "Control More than one DVR in the Same Room."
Note that the Sony TiVo can only be set to remote codes 1, 2, or 3. The Philips can be set to 0-9, but 0 is special. Any Philips TiVo will respond to a remote set to 0. Likewise a Philips TiVo set to 0 will respond to a Philips remote with any code.
The new 34 button remote available at the TiVo Store has a switch to easily control two TiVos without needing to reprogram it each time. (Not available for Sony models.)
While watching Live TV, bring up the guide, then press the Record button.
From Richard: "Housekeeping is:
On a standalone TiVo, you can record in four different video qualities, Best, High, Medium, and Basic. Better qualities give you less number of hours of programming you can record before the disk is full. Other than that, it is a matter of personal preference, perceived anomalies such as pixelation, and the size of your TV screen.
On the DirecTivo, it always records at "best" quality.
The hard disk space required to record an hour of programming at a given quality is always the same, regardless of the material being recorded (high action or static image). With Variable Bit Rate (VBR) recording, introduced in 2.5, TiVo can now record at a higher quality during high action periods.
The 30 minute live TV buffer is always recorded in Best Quality, regardless of the currently selected default quality. However, if you press the Record button, the recording is made at the default quality.
Suggestions are recorded at the currently selected default quality. However, if you change your default quality, any Suggestions that TiVo "scheduled" under the old quality setting are made under the old quality setting. New Suggestions will use the new default. After awhile (up to two weeks), everything will again be as expected.
You're watching a commercial when suddenly an icon pops up that says "press thumbs up to record". This gives you a chance to quickly set up TiVo to record what is being advertised and return to your show where you stopped. This cool feature is popularly known as a Tivomatic. Its official name is now iPreview. According to TivoPony in a thread here, iPreview was the name initially used both "in house" and with partners even though the manual calls it a Tivomatic.
When you receive an iPreview icon that gives you a chance to set up a recording.
IPreviews are seen occasionally on NBC and Showtime. Hopefully we
will begin to see it on more shows. Other uses for the Tivomatic
iPreview are speculation but there has been talk that TiVo could
deliver enhanced content through the iPreview icon.
From Samsara here: "When you know you're going to repeat Guided Setup, force a daily call first and wait for the indexing to finish. The GS should go by in a few minutes because the data hasn't changed. Just make sure that the daily and GS calls occur on the same side of 2pm PST because that's approximately when TiVo updates their data."
From Mike Wells here: "I never use suggestions as a way of recording things that I want to record. I've read of people giving shows thumbs-up to get TiVo to record those shows with mixed results. If you want to record a show, record it. Suggestions are for your #2 reason, to find other shows you might like. I, too, get suggestions recorded of other things that I already have. Just delete them and move on. I would rather have a TiVo with a more accurate profile for suggestions and the inconvenience of occasionally deleting some movies I already own than having less-accurate suggestions. My suggestion regarding TiVo suggestions is not to think too hard about them. Don't try to predict how TiVo will use them. Don't give inaccurate information in an attempt to influence suggestions."
Dr. Zed has an extensive description of how he uses Thumbs here although suggestions engine has been slightly changed since then.
From Otto here: "When you're watching a show, pressing the left arrow takes you back to the last menu you were at. If it's in the last 5 minutes of that show, it will also ask you if you want to delete that program. So instead of using the list button (for Sony users) or the TivoGuy button, just hit left. Example: I watch programs from Now Showing. When I get to the end or I just want to get rid of the program, I hit the "skip to end" button (if I'm not at the end), then hit left on the direction pad. It asks to delete, then goes directly back to Now Showing. Pretty cool. It can also be slightly faster to delete programs this way than going through the 'Delete Now' menus. Plus, you have a chance to preview the program really quick before deciding to delete it or not."
Moving? Just pull the plug. TiVo was designed to be able to handle this nicely. Wait 1-2 minutes for the drive to stop spinning before moving it.
From stevel: "The Sony Control-S protocol is just a wire version of the IR protocol, with voltage levels compatible with IR blasters. So using the "IR output" of the Sony Tivo to hook to a Sony VCR's Control-S input should work."
This has been found to work on a SLV-775HF, SLV-M20HF, and one unknown (SLV-796?), but it does not work on the SLV-975HF. If you have a different model that does or does not work with your Sony TiVo, please let us know.
Dylan: "TiVo does work with wireless phone jacks that use your homes electrical system to transmit the phone signal. Be sure to get one that is designed to support modem speeds of at least 33 Kbps. Some people have had success with the RCA/GE/Radio Shack models but others haven't. It might be because RCA makes two wireless phone jacks. The 926 model is only rated to 14.4 Kbps while the 930 model is rated to 56 Kbps. Users have definitely reported problems with the 926 model. It's unclear if some of the problems reported were also with the 930 model.
The one most sure to work, based on user reports, seems to be the Phonex PX-441. They are designed to be used with modems and have individual security codes so they should be safe in apartment buildings. Based on physical appearance and specs, it does appear that the Phonex PX-441 and RCA 930 are sourced from the same manufacturer. But this hasn't been confirmed."
Manufacturer's page:
http://www.phonex.com/
http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetail/0,1322,PI49,00.html?
Vendors:
TiVo Store (search
for wireless)
http://www.globe-mart.com/comm/phones/accessories/jacks/phonex/PX-441.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00000J0D5/102-4031329-9304161
You can't turn off the built-in IR emitter that TiVo has in its front panel with software. However, you can mask it off by removing the front panel. This might be a good idea if you're missing channel changes with the IR blaster (the two on the end of the cable), because the built-in one can interfere with the blaster.
Removing the front panel does not break the warranty seal, and it's easy to do, once you know the trick! Simply lift out on the two bottom corners a little bit, then the entire cover will slide straight down. You can then use electrical tape or heat shring tubing to cover up the emitter - it's the one on the right, that sticks out a little more than the IR receiver (the one on the left).
Here's a more complicated setup where the TiVo itself is also remote-controlled with Xantech emitters:
Brently, 8-26-2000: "1. I pried off the front of the TiVo and used a piece of black shrink tubing to cover the TiVo emitter up (it's the one on the right). I just slipped it over it and folded it over. 2. Using the Xantech emitter, I took the actual emitter out of its small, adhesive plastic box (because it's too large to allow the TiVo front panel to be reattached) and placed it over the IR receiver (it's the one on the left) in the TiVo and covered it with black tape. 3. I used more black tape to cover the inside of the round "bubble" just to be sure I was blocking all outside signals in & out of the TiVo. It seems that both the IR transmitter & receiver are very sensitive."