TiVoBlog reports on Roxio’s Toast (v8) and Popcorn (v3) software updates that resolve TiVoToGo troubles introduced with the TiVo 9.1/9.2 Fall Update:
- TiVo recordings created after TiVo’s Fall 2007 DVR update will no longer cause the application to hang during encoding
- Resolves issue that may result in failed transfer of recording from DVR
- TiVo recordings will be displayed with correct metadata
- TiVo HD recordings now play back at correct speed
I haven’t been able to verify the Toast update… since entering Bizarro World last night: My Vista desktop just works and my new Leopard upgrade (10.5.1) is buggy. I can deal with one-way Yahoo contact syncing, inaccurate icons, and the missing Mail preference panes, but I’ve suddenly lost permission to install applications (like Toast) and the Repair Permissions Disk Utility is hosed. Oh yeah, my optical drive is dead too. Maybe it’s time for an Eee PC.
Dave, I’ve upgraded three Macs to Leopard, with a fourth waiting in the wings (have to wait for updated VPN software for my wife), and I don’t think it’s the OS causing issues.
Can you boot off the Leopard DVD or is the optical drive completely dead? If you can boot, redo the install and, this time, do a Clean Install (click the Options button during installation). It will wipe away your preferences… but a working OS is preferable to a non-working OS with your preferences already set up.
Oh, and as for Toast: It still has major audio sync issues with both exports and DVD burning.
Optical drive issue isn’t related to software – I believe it’s hardware and dead at this point. (Have an Apple Store appointment at 4pm. Disc goes in, makes noise, after 30 seconds pops back out. Drive is visible in Profiler, but maybe the laser is jarred out of position or something.)
I did a DVD clean install of Leopard on an old eMac sitting in the closet and noticed some icons are messed up there too. Either that or I don’t get it. The permissions thing seems to be happening to enough people it will hopefully be addressed shortly, so I may wait a couple weeks to see if 10.5.2 comes out and fixes these things. And I did find a tip on the forums to delete a Mail preference file. I lost my settings, but when Mail came back up all the toolbar buttons and panes were present. I still can’t sync my address book to .Mac and the Yahoo sync doesn’t seem to have logic to merge online. Either that or the permissions thing is a larger problem.
If I did do a clean install, should I use Time Machine (assuming it works) or Backup on an external drive and then restore my stuff? Or would it also restore the messed up settings?
By the way, I got fired up yesterday about the Yahoo sync and paid full retail price for Leopard at the Apple Store. Figuring out how to overcome my dead DVD drive and installing was time consuming, but fortunately I had that old eMac to assist. On the eMac, I made the DVD into a .dmg and loaded it onto a USB hard drive, which I then booted from on the MBP. I was just going to offer the eMac to a buddy of mine since it has been unplugged since January. But now it seems smart to let it continue collecting dust in the closet until the next emergency. :)
Regarding Toast, that’s disappointing. I had read on their forums a week ago that Popcorn Beta 3 was still having probs. Guess they didn’t get it fixed. Honestly, if the transfer portion works reliably… I can take care of the rest.
Dave,
Have you tried to do a clean install of Leopard. Originally I did an upgrade but than it was bothering me that it wasn’t “clean” so I went ahead and did a reformat/install.
Lots of people who have upgraded to Leopard have received the same set of WARNING: SUID file….. messages from Disk Utility.
Apple has a tech note on their site saying the messages are technically correct, but it is safe to ignore them (sorry, don’t have the link).
I’d ignore them if my permissions were correct, but I’m not capable of installing Roxio since it says I don’t have sufficient privs. Any other ideas? If I’m feeling patient later I may call support to find out how to make my address book sync online. Or maybe when I have the tech at the Apple Store cornered in a few hours.
I’m thinking of a clean install, but wonder the best way to archive and restore my stuff. Also if Parallels fails for any reason I won’t have my XP and MS Office discs since work holds them. They also hold my Mac Office disc. Not a good idea in retrospect since my office is 3,000 miles away. I do have iLife here since I expensed it rather than going through the IT group. (And paid for Leopard myself.)
I know you know but a clean install doesn’t just wipe out the preferences, it wipes everything out.
My Leopard clean install went great on my mini and MBP.
Right, so what’s the best way to archive? Simplest to just save photos, music, and docs to USB drive, or should I give Time Machine a shot? Again not having discs on hand is holding me back. I can use NeoOffice until I get to CA or someone sends me a disc. But I rely on Parallels – I’d need to backup my XP image and hope for the best.
Crisis and clean install averted at the Apple Store.
Optical drive – My options are to replace or not replace. The Mac is out of warranty and given how often I use the drive, I’m not burdening Sling with a ~$450 charge. I’ll pick up an inexpensive ($50ish) external drive online for the rare occasions I need one. (They did suggest a third party repair place around the corner which would cost less and I also saw replacement Superdrives online for $150, but I’m not going to bother.)
.Mac contact sync – Tech was baffled but said sometimes it’s flakey and we saw some errors in the console. We tried resetting sync data (no luck), re-registering MBP (no luck), and then deleting my contacts online plus unchecking and rechecking sync under prefs which allowed it to sync.
Copying Roxio – The Repair Permissions was a red herring. Turns out just the 4 items in the Toast folder were set to read only. Boy, did I feel stupid.
Strange icons – Not going to worry about. Random PDF or document graphics for other things is sort of comforting, reminds me of Windows. ;)
More on the point of Tivo Transfers, with my upgrade to 9.1/9.2, TivoDecodeManager started working again… now I grab shows at a more full resolution than the Toast solution
I still have download problems via both Roxio and TiVoDecode Manager. Some shows transfer, others hang. For example Dexter from last week transfered, this week wouldn’t. Rebooting the TiVo sometimes helps on a temporary basis, sometimes it doesn’t. I have a feeling this is some sort of networking interference issue but can’t pinpoint it. (S3 is on TiVo Wireless Adapter, HD is on SlingLink TURBO. Dexter is on S3.)