I don't know which formats you need, but TiVoGoBack should work. But you can't do any of this without an active subscription.

Thanks, I've been trying to fill the TiVo with recordings from another TiVo and from the computer, then cancel the sub. AFAIK I can still play existing content without a sub? I've got a 500GB drive in this SD machine so I figure I should have a decent library on it when I'm done. That said, it's depressing to see how much of these recordings I really don't have enough interest to put on the machine. TiVoGoBack is a paid app? Might not be worth it at this point, though I'd prefer not to make room for a DVD player.

I'll keep this machine anyway, since I also have an 80GB (?, as issued) withe lifetime from 2004. If it has a HD crash I can transfer the 500GB.

Thanks again!


=aw

Also just noticed that what I thought was $10/mo for the S2DT is actually $13/mo.

...TiVo just confirmed the price went up in June. They didn't tell me, and wish I'd noticed sooner (I've paid $13 in Jun, Jul, and Aug; it's extra incentive to shut it down before the Sep billling!). $3/mo isn't going to kill me, but for a machine that can't record it seems a waste at any price. Also crazy is they offer $13/mo or $500 Lifetime, no annual plan -- somehow $8/mo (2012 annual price was $99) feels less intrusive and worth the cost of the machine [my Premiere has a smaller 320GB HD and is full with HD stuff, but it's going to be my only by-the-month TiVo in a few days].

My intention each month has been to get the thing filled and un-subbed (assuming I can still play existing recordings with no sub) and it's not the $3, it's the gall of charging more, even if the listing service is costing them more they must know it's not being used on S2DTs very much.

Thanks!
=aw

No - you really cannot play the recordings on the unit without a subscription. This unit will really be useless without a subscription, even if it's only your transferred content that's on there.

Thank you. Is that new? I ask because last year I had another S2DT that I let expire but I was still able to play what was there (I'm sure I did, though you've got me wondering).

=aw

I think it's always been that way for Series2 units . . . Maybe there was a grace period?

Well I guess I'll see what happens and report back. Looks like they bill on the 12th and settle on the 13th, which is a little longer than I thought (I thought they billed this one on the 10th) so it's just a cost of electricity to transfer files. Everything's been backed up once already so if the S2 gets bricked, I'll just have to watch this stuff on the Premiere. Or the computer and think bad thoughts about them.

=aw

Sounds good. Tell us if it works.

My better half thinks that when we deactivated the previous S2DT, we were able to play, stop/pause, and delete existing recordings. So no FF, REW, go back when you forget to pause it, etc. (not sure it even remembered where we were but maybe always started playback at the beginning). She's usually right. But I will definitely plan to follow up here when I do it.

Called TiVo tonight (billing date is tomorrow the 12th). I let them talk me into another month for free, which I assumed they would do but I planned to decline.

Why did I take it? Because I had noticed the S2DT wasn't offering me MSD on "choose a plan" while the Premiere was. Agent went away for a few minutes and came back with, "is your other S2 [with Lifetime] plugged in?". I realized it isn't -- because we switched from cable to phone internet in Spring and didn't bother hooking it up, though it might actually be powered up. Not really "didn't bother" so much as the Bell guy ran coax to that location for a second digital box instead of Cat 5, so I would have had to re-run a network cable or find the wireless adapter, and that TV wasn't going to use the TiVo any more anyway.

Of course the experts here know the punchline already, because the Lifetime S2 wasn't calling home, after a month the other S2 became the "primary" and only the Premiere got the MSD. And furthermore, if I cancelled the S2 today, and didn't get the Lifetime connected and calling home by Oct 3, I wouldn't get MSD on the Premiere!

Of course it wouldn't be TiVo without petty nickel and diming, I asked for my $9 back (for 3 months of overbilling because the Lifetime box was disconnected, credit toward the Premiere would be fine) and they refused because they only give credits "for their screw-ups". Obviously I should know the rules, and they don't _owe_ me $9, but it would be a reasonable one-time goodwill gesture IMO.

The Lifetime box doesn't have to do anything other than call in (no recording, no playback, no real activity). Well, that and not die. So I'll hook it up and make sure it's online all winter while we're away. Could even put it in someone else's house in case the internet goes down while we're away.

Thanks!
=aw

Cancelled my TiVo service (for one S2DT box) on Friday and I'm reporting two things that were different than I remembered.

1. Friday was the last day of my billing cycle so I waited until then to call. They told me I could have called any time after the previous billing, and it would take effect at the end of the billing cycle. I'm sure in the past it's been "you call, you're cancelled". On a side note, I remember being surprised a year or two ago when I cancelled a Netflix subscription and it asked "now or end of cycle?" which seemed different than earlier Netflix cancels. Either I'm misremembering or they're thinking they need to offer an option where you get what you paid for.

2. My no-service S2DT is still playing back existing recordings with more functionality than I remembered in the post above. It's only been 4 days, so maybe there's a grace period, but I don't think so. I can play, pause, FF, Rewind, JumpBack, etc. Perhaps like in #1 above, they've decided that "we charge for the listings service" means I've paid to record and play back that program, and they should offer full functionality. On the listings front, all options under "Find Programs" (?) lead to a screen that says "your service is not active, call to activate", so no managing season passes, no checking what season passes or wish lists I had, etc. And pressing "Guide" on the remote reboots the TiVo (right back to the yellow sunrise screen).

There may be other restrictions I haven't stumbled upon yet, but for now I seem to have full playback functionality on existing recordings and nothing else. I realize I haven't tried to move recordings over the LAN but I'm not able to check that and I would doubt it's possible.

If this functionality changes again, I'll try to post here. I'll probably pull the ethernet cable out of the back (need the port on the router) so it should stay the same.

=aw

Follow-up to the Lifetime unit as the basis for MSD, I found this in the T&C at https://www.tivo.com/legal/terms#msd :

I had thought it was every 30 days, and was planning how to leave it connected (but not able to record) to keep the Premiere on MSD. But at 180 days I can leave it unplugged while I'm away. Just have to hope it still powers up 5 months later.

=aw