Unsolved problem with TiVo file transfers frustrates users
Posted by Erica Ogg
A fall software update from TiVo damaged a popular feature on the company's DVR, and months later the change remains unfixed for a number of customers.

As part of the TiVoToGo feature, software from Roxio called Toast 8 allows users to transfer recorded shows from TiVo to mobile devices, like laptops and iPods, or put the shows on DVDs. The recording and transferring functions stopped working late last year for some customers using Toast.

Users began to complain starting in early October that they were unable to transfer, or burn, any TiVo'd shows at all.

"Right after my TiVo box informed me that it had received the 'Fall Update,' the problems started," TiVo and Roxio customer Fred Jacobs said.

Roxio said the TiVo fall software update changed the way recorded video files were saved, which introduced technical problems into Roxio's own software.

Roxio issued its own software updates to address the problem in November, but it wasn't a complete fix for everyone. Though the file transfer feature began to function again, hiccups remain for a number of users, like Jacobs.

"When I tried to burn a new episode, the result was a DVD with constant audio breaks and skips, like someone was turning the sound on and off every half-second. Worthless," Jacobs told CNET News.com. "Also, I now have no way to archive my own shows on DVD. I just have to delete them, sometimes before I even have time to watch them. ... Read more