How To Test Serial On TIVO

[mikeydread]

i decided to ask this ? on a new thread for more visibility. i cant get my tivo to communicate in tera term, i ve tried everything and have it narrowed down to the serial on the tivo, anyone know of a good way to test this 2.8mm jack on tivo to make sure its working? is there any options in the menu u need to cut it on? could it be a bad image on the drive causing the problem? thanks ahead of time for any input....

[captain_video]

Make sure you've got the baud rate set at 115200 for the serial port in your terminal program or you'll never get a bash prompt.

[mikeydread]

Make sure you've got the baud rate set at 115200 for the serial port in your terminal program or you'll never get a bash prompt.
thanks, but ive already tried that, baud of 115200 and 9600 still no go

[ocomik]

thanks, but ive already tried that, baud of 115200 and 9600 still no go

Are you sure your cable is good? If not, verify that the pinout is correct, 5 to GND, 3 to ring, and 2 to tip. I typically just use a multimeter to check for continuity. You can also short 2 & 3 together (use a piece of hookup wire) on the 1/8 plug end while connected to your terminal. This will cause whatever you type to show up on the screen.

If the continuity check works but the shortening of 2 & 3 doesn't, something is incorrect with the settings on your PC (either hardware or software).

As for the serial port on the unit going bad it is very unlikely.

Mike

www.ocomik.net/blog/index.html

[ocomik]

Are you sure your cable is good? If not, verify that the pinout is correct, 5 to GND, 3 to ring, and 2 to tip. I typically just use a multimeter to check for continuity. You can also short 2 & 3 together (use a piece of hookup wire) on the 1/8 plug end while connected to your terminal. This will cause whatever you type to show up on the screen.

If the continuity check works but the shortening of 2 & 3 doesn't, something is incorrect with the settings on your PC (either hardware or software).

As for the serial port on the unit going bad it is very unlikely.

Mike

www.ocomik.net/blog/index.html

Another thought, after you know everything on your end (just before the Tivo serial port) is functioning, you could use a breakout box to determine if either RX or TX is not being returned. If you need more specifics let me know.

Mike

[mikeydread]

Another thought, after you know everything on your end (just before the Tivo serial port) is functioning, you could use a breakout box to determine if either RX or TX is not being returned. If you need more specifics let me know.

Mike
whats a breakout box?how do i know if rx and tx is right?i think im gonna need specifics.....

[ocomik]

whats a breakout box?how do i know if rx and tx is right?i think im gonna need specifics.....

is there something i have to do inside of windows98 to activate this serial port to talk to the tivo? or is it plug and play? i havent made any changes in computer settings other than installing tera-term and adjusting setting from inside of there....

From reading some of your earlier posts after I posted, it sounds like everything on the PC end is correct. You mentioned that when you shorted the tip & ring of the 1/8 cable that your terminal echo'd back what you typed. This would tell me that the configuration on the PC (as it relates to the terminal software) is correct.

A serial breakout box is just a pass-through device that allows you to visually see what is occuring during serial communications. It's basically just a box with a bunch of LEDs that are labeled. The box is designed to be put in-line with the connection. This would at least tell you if the Tivo was rx'g and tx'g.

Mike

[sh0rtee]

not sure if this will help your or not but when i 1st used the serial cable, i could see whats going on (booting up, card locked/unlocked) but never got bash prompt. i used hyperterm and did a receive file then canceled it. presto, got a prompt of either (none): or tivo:, not a bash prompt but it acted like one. hope this helps.