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a & b cable
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Posted by: emjls

Unfortunately I live in Boston where we have a/b cable (two line). When asked to choose cable during setup I can only pick one option, is there any way to pick both? I know I will probably have to switch a/b manually but I would like to have program guide, descriptions etc. for the b side. I heard someone say to pick DSS satellite and program channels is this true and/or possible if so how? and will the upgrade fix this problem?
Any help appreciated
Thx Ed

Posted by: MikeLaw

The standard answer that I always see is that you are screwed. RB said at some point that TiVo never intends to fully support it. If there is a hack, I've never heard of it.

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....mike

Posted by: cramer

quote:
Originally posted by MikeLaw:
The standard answer that I always see is that you are screwed. RB said at some point that TiVo never intends to fully support it. If there is a hack, I've never heard of it.

In theory, you could trick it into doing this...

You'll need to get the tivo to load the headend inventories for both lineups and then create a second input source for the other side. This will be a great deal of work as there's alot that goes into the creation of a "line-up". Basically, you'll have to manually do the work of a "Guided Setup" to load the other half -- basically, keep the files the tivo downloaded for "B" GS, repeat GS for "A" and then dbload the inventory for "B", doctor up /Setup, etc. with luck, you'll get it to work. (And if you have two external cable boxes, you can get this to work perfectly.)

Of course, this is ALL in theory. I don't have cable and I certainly don't have A/B cable. But I could experiment with out the cable boxen?

Posted by: TCruz

There is no fully satifactory fix for this. If you look around (I think this may even be in one of the regular faq's) there is a part-solution to this that involves telling your tivo you've got cable and satellite, routing your b cable through a vcr and into your tivo (this is so you can use the vcr to change channels). You've got to trim down the satellite line up to just the channels you've got on the b-cable. What you end up with is full functionality on the a-cable, guide data for the b-cable, and having to use the vcr remote to change channels on b-cable (tivo will *think* it's changing channels, but it can't control the vcr; it won't ever really know what channel it's on).

I did this for a couple months and wasn't too happy with it. I switched everything back when I missed using my vcr (basically running my b-cable in regular old pre-tivo mode) -- lo and behold I actually miss the half-assed setup because I could at least pause whatever I was viewing!

Still, half-assed is half-assed, and it would be *really* great if this was addressed. Though I think this is unlikely because it probably has to do with limitations of the Tivo hardware and not the software....

[This message has been edited by TCruz (edited 12-18-2000).]

Posted by: HTH

I think cramer has this right. You'd need a way to get either the A or B cable to come in through the AV inputs (some kind of RF ch3->AV converter), but if all the call letters and such for the stations are set up right, it should even be possible to get the appropriate listings for those channels on that input.

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http://www.war-of-the-worlds.org/tivo/HTH.gif

Posted by: Otto

Easy answer: if your cable company supports digital cable, usually they combine the two sides into one lineup, which Tivo can then control.

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Otto, Supreme TiVoWarrior - Moderator - AVS Forum - Tivo Underground
"If once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny. Consume you it will!" -- Yoda