Automation Adventures

I installed Galleon 0.1 on my machine yesterday. First off: read the instructions. One thing that got me was the fact that it uses JDK 1.5 – all I had was 1.4′s.

This is the first TiVo HME enabled version of what is formerly known as JavaHMO. It has one very neat feature added: you can transfer files from the TiVo to your PC while sitting at your TiVo. So if you like a program, apart from give it a thumbs-up, you can now decide to transfer it to the PC for later editing and DVD burning.

Since I didn’t have the correct JDK installed until this morning, I haven’t been able to test any of it. I will try and do some transfers tonight, and let you know.

Oh, if anyone has a NetGear WG111 working with TiVo, please let me know. The darn thing is frustrating the heck out of me, and it would be nice to know it should work….

So far I have had no luck hooking up the Netgear WG111 I bought 2 days ago. Apparently just disconnecting the old network adapter and plugging in the new doesn’t work (I didn’t expect it to work), but even the following set of steps didn’t work:

1. Turn TiVo off
2. Unplug old Linksys adapter
3. Turn TiVo on
4. Check that there is no adapter
5. Turn TiVo off
6. Plug in new Netgear adapter
7. Turn TiVo on

I wish I could put down step 8 as “Check that adapter is there and working”, but so far it only shows the old network settings, and no signal. I will have to do some more testing, but so far it is about as frustrating as any of the other wireless network adapters I’ve set up.

A beta version of Galleon has been released. This is made by the same developer as JavaHMO (Leon Nicholls), and utilizes the HME from TiVo.

This version sports no JavaHMO plug ins as yet, but the list of features looks pretty impressive. Download a copy of it and try it out…!

Yahoo!’s Tech Tuesday is taking a close look at DVR’s. DVR dilemma’s takes a look at how TiVo measures up against ReplayTV and Microsoft Media Center. DVR recording tips shares a couple of tips on how to improve your DVR experience. And DIY DVR shows you some do-it-yourself alternatives to the commericially available DVR systems.

Yesterday I came across a couple of posts stating that TiVo is now supporting 802.11g adapters. A quick check revealed that the Supported Wireless Adapaters page at TiVo support now shows 2 G-adapters: the D-Link DWL-G120 and the NetGear WG111. Both require version 7.1a of the TiVo software (i.e. the software on your TiVo). Monitor the supported adapters pages for correct versions of these adapters.

I checked, and BestBuy has a deal on the NetGear WG111: the in-store price is $59.99, with a total of $40 of mail-in rebates. Check your stores for the details…

Of course I rushed out and grabbed one, just to test this out. Unfortunately I didn’t have a lot of time last night, and a simple substitute of one wireless adapter for another doesn’t quite work. I’ll have to play around with it a little more tonight!

Several people on the tivocommunity.com forum (including TivoBill) report that there is little or no speed increase when using 802.11g – yet. This may be resolved in future versions.