Comcast Pushes Update To All TiVo Units, Promises More

Posted on Sunday, July 13, 2008 by MegaZone

Just a few days ago I was saying that TiVo and Comcast really needed to push out the promised update for the Comcast TiVo units to correct the numerous problems experienced by users. And it looks like they’ve done so, as Friday evening a Comcast Rep posted to TiVoCommunity to announce the deployment:

As some of you may have noticed, a software update has now been rolled out to all of the Comcast DVRs with TiVo Service. As a reminder, this update fixes the reboot loop bug on DCH boxes (aka the “8888″ display bug), enables Dolby Digital output for DCH boxes, enhances the performance for the HD filter in the Guide, and other bug fixes.

I’m sure this will be very welcome news for those with the TiVo software on their Comcast DVRs. If you have one, I’d love to have a comment from you about the update and if it improved things for you, or if you still have any issue.

But the post went beyond just announcing the update, it also talked about another update coming down the pike with some new features:

There will be another release coming in the near future that should provide substantial performance improvements, particularly for the Guide and scheduling recordings. In response to user feedback, this release will also enable users to jump forward by 24 hours in the Guide by pressing the skip-to-tick button on the remote, and jump backward by 24 hours by pressing the instant replay button. I will keep you posted as the exact timing for this release is set.

The performance improvements will be most welcome, I’m sure, as the most common complaint with regard to the current software is the sluggish performance. But I thing the 24 jump in the Guide is genius, and I hope that kind of functionality finds its way back to the standalone TiVo software. I think giving up Instant Replay and Advance while the guide is on screen would be worth it for the quicker navigation. What do you think?

About MegaZone

MegaZone is the Editor of Gizmo Lovers and the chief contributor. He's been online since 1989 and active in several generations of 'social media' - mailing lists, USENet groups, web forums, and since 2003, blogging.    MegaZone has a presence on several social platforms: Google+ / Facebook / Twitter / LinkedIn / LiveJournal / Web.    You can also follow Gizmo Lovers on other sites: Blog / Google+ / Facebook / Twitter.
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  • xdreamwalker

    I would take advantage of the 24 hr skip in the guide. So many time I am watching TV and I see something that I want to check out that is on “Tomorrow at 9.” With 24 hr skip I won’t have to press channel down as many times.

  • Jack

    I’d love to hear from those that have received this recent update. Hopefully this update has solved the major bug fixes that comcast rep claims it fixes.

    Also I hope that comcast makes it a priority to get out this promised performance fix asap. I don’t want to be talking about where this fix is 2,3,6 etc months from now. Comcast seems to be painfully slow so far with dealings with the Comcast Tivo unit. I hope that changes and asap.

  • Michael Burstin

    I think that I have received the update — scheduling recordings certainly seems to be much faster than it was last week. I unfortunately forget what my previous version number was, so I can’t tell if I’ve gotten the update. One item of note is that I didn’t have too many of the problems that many out there were complaining about — but thats also because I have a DCT box rather than the DCH box. I had a few complaints in the past, but can’t really test them now because most were either based on specific wish-list settings for sports seasons that are now past — though I suppose I could experiment with them some more and other intermittent problems which will only happen after several weeks of running the box.