Question about calling home?

[mr_skot]

I've been trolling and searching this forum for an answer and have had no luck finding this answer. If it's been posted before, I apologize for started a duplicate thread.

I've been running the new and improved Tivo dvr image for over a year now.

This past July I was going to upgrade to HD so I swapped in the original drive thinking the installer was going to notice I had my dtivo plugged into my local LAN etc...

After a few days (while I waited for the installer) I received a message that my "DVR service needed to be activated". Now playing was missing, recording functions gone. I had to let it call home for 72 hours, then called D and tell them I had this message. I was back up and running in 10 minutes.

Then I found out my neighbors tree is in the way of one of the HD sat's. :-(
So back to the 'enhanced' drive running 6.2a-01-2-151 on my Hughs HDVR2.

Since then my original drive died and all I have is my 'improved' drive.

I'm worried the message will pop up again and I will have to plug in the phone cord and let it call home.

Questions:

- Do I need to even worry?
- Will anything be harmed if I just plug it in and let it call home?
- Should I make clone of my hard drive before plugging in the phone line?
- Do I need to modify anything in my setup before letting it call home?
(ie.. do I need to change a script and reboot)

I'm trying to figure out if I even need to be worried, and if I need to, what is the best way to go about bypassing having to call D in this case.

Maybe I just need to up the dosage on my happy pills and not worry so much.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[jt1134]

Use fakecall.tcl and don't plug in the phone line unless you want to use caller id.

[100Tbps]

Cut down the tree.

[mr_skot]

Use fakecall.tcl and don't plug in the phone line unless you want to use caller id.

Thanks for the tip. I'll check out Fakecall and how to use it.

Not quite sure about the "cutting down the tree" remark.

[100Tbps]

It was an attempt at humor. Cutting down the tree enables you to get back to HD and solves call home problem.

[PlainBill]

Cut down the tree.

Bad idea. The noise of the chain saw will attract attention and lead to lawsuits.

Spraying a gallon of Roundup on the tree is quieter, but risks contaminating the environment. I suggest using a very high power (terawatt) laser after a thunderstorm. The damage will be blamed on lightning.

PlainBill

[ttodd1]

Now that is an idea....

[mr_skot]

Bad idea. The noise of the chain saw will attract attention and lead to lawsuits.

Spraying a gallon of Roundup on the tree is quieter, but risks contaminating the environment. I suggest using a very high power (terawatt) laser after a thunderstorm. The damage will be blamed on lightning.

PlainBill

Funny you should mention this. I was just in the middle of firing up my Flux Capacitor and it's 1.41 Giggawatts.... Would that do the trick?

[PlainBill]

Funny you should mention this. I was just in the middle of firing up my Flux Capacitor and it's 1.41 Giggawatts.... Would that do the trick?

That would be a very bad idea. Use of a flux capacitor will propel the tree approximately 30 days into the future. As a result the tree will reappear just after the new dish is installed.

PlainBill

[100Tbps]

./bufferhack41.tcl 13140000 might be a better option. Roll to the beginning of the buffer (25 years) where it will be much easier to solve this.

[PlainBill]

./bufferhack41.tcl 13140000 might be a better option. Roll to the beginning of the buffer (25 years) where it will be much easier to solve this.

Again, caution is in order. One guy tried this and wound up back in third grade!!

PlainBill

[mr_skot]

I have a feeling I'm being made fun of here.

Although having a 25 year buffer would be AWESOME! I wonder how much time the 30 sec skip button would skip? 2 years a pop? 4 years? Don't like the who was elected President? 30 sec skip baby....

[crashHD]

[QUOTE=PlainBill;292008]Spraying a gallon of Roundup on the tree is quieter, but risks contaminating the environment. /QUOTE]

Roundup is about as toxic as table salt. It's one of the most environmentally harmless herbicides you can find. It would take a mammoth dosage to affect a tree, if it would affect the tree.

[PlainBill]

Spraying a gallon of Roundup on the tree is quieter, but risks contaminating the environment.

Roundup is about as toxic as table salt. It's one of the most environmentally harmless herbicides you can find. It would take a mammoth dosage to affect a tree, if it would affect the tree.

Two points: Table salt is rather toxic. Haven't you ever heard of 'sowing the fields with salt'?

Monsanto markets several herbicides under the 'Roundup' trademark, including one designed to kill brush.

PlainBill