TiVo Control Station
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What is TiVo Control Station?
TCS is a program that runs on a TiVo Series 1. The code will largely work on a series 2, but some key helper programs are unavailable for that platform. Someone with some programming ability may be able to get it to work on an S2. I don't have an S2, and, therefore, that person will not be me. TCS receives its commands through either the remote control or a predefined network socket. The basic commands allow you to start, kill or restart most of the popular TiVo programs from the remote control. Telnet daemon died? No need to reboot, just restart it with TCS. Can't understand what Seinfeld said even after rewinding 5 times? Just use TCS to turn on closed captioning on the TiVo with tivovbi, and turn it back off after you determine what you missed. All without having to leave the couch.
If you have your TiVo connected to an always on (cable/dsl) internet connection, you can view a variety of information collected from the web. TCS will periodically collect and format information from a variety of websites where it is always ready at the press of a button.
TCS currently has modules to collect and display Stock Quotes, Interest Rates, Local Weather conditions/forecast, Local Weather Radar, and sports scores on demand. See some TCS Screen Shots.
You can control how frequently the information is updated. Stock quotes are set up to update frequently during weekdays, while each sport is configured to update frequently only when a game is likely to be in progress - MLB nights, NFL Sundays/Monday Nights, and NCAA football Saturdays and Thursday nights. If TCS finds a game in progress at an odd time, it's no problem - the update frequency will automatically be increased until the game concludes.
So, with TCS you have a variety of updated current information at your fingertips, just by pressing a couple of buttons on the remote.
TCS provides an easy to use module interface that allows TCL programmers to add new commands.
Support
Problems with specific modules can arise as changes are made to the web pages which TCS uses to gather information for its displays. (Weather, Stock Quotes, Sports scores, etc.) Updated modules are usually available rather quickly after a change is made. Typically, if the format of a source web page changes, the information TCS gathers will either be incorrect, or garbled in some way. Although rare, There have been cases where format changes have caused TCS to crash, which in extreme cirumstances can cause the TiVo to reboot.
If you have a problem, check the Series 1 Support section of the Deal Database Forum for help. The forum is the fastest way to get help, as there are several TCS users there, many of whom can answer questions. Do not start a new thread, there is an already existing thread for TCS support. A link to that thread is available at the top of the TCS Download Page. An "auto-update" module, which automatically checks for, and, optionally, installs updated modules is now included.
Make sure to read the TCS readme for proper installation procedures, as well as for how to tune and enable/disable certain TCS features. The fast TCS readme is no longer available, as of TCS release 1.1.0. The advent of the network server makes installation too complicated for a fast readme. However, a new section in the readme takes the place of the fast readme.
There are some common problems/questions that come up during installation, and keep reappearing in the support thread. I have added a FAQ that covers common problems/questions. Please read the FAQ before posting a question in the support thread on DealDatabase.
Suggestion/Comments welcome, Module development assistance available. tcs .a.t. zirakzigil dot net.
