Backup Module FAQ

  1. Why do I get the error "Commit failed (0x30012)" during restore?
  2. Why do I get the error 'can't read "TmkEvent::EVT_DATA_CHANGED": no such variable' during restore?
  3. After I do a restore the Tivo doesn't schedule any of the season passes - how do I get it to schedule them?
  4. When I try to restore a backup I find that the list of channels is either incomplete or missing altogether - what's gone wrong?
  5. When I try to save the backup file with Firefox it doesn't work - it comes back telling me that "The link could not be saved. The web page might have been removed or had its name changed." How do I save backup files with Firefox?
  6. When I restore a backup file (or sometimes when I take a backup) the Tivo reboots! Why is it doing this, and how do I stop it?

Why do I get the error "Commit failed (0x30012)" during restore?

This generally happens because the module is trying to restore something (usually a television series record) that already exists. The usual reasons for this happening are:

  1. You are trying to restore the backup file before the Tivo has finished indexing the guide data. If the guide data isn't indexed then the module can't find television series that it's looking for, so it tries to create them - only to fail because they already exist. You must wait until indexing has finished (usually about 8 to 24 hours) before attempting to restore a backup file.
  2. You're not using the latest version of the module. There have been a couple of bugs in the past that have stopped the module from detecting series when they were there, which would cause it to try to restore a series that already exists.

So in short - please download the latest version of the module and wait until the guide data has finished indexing before you report a "Commit failed" error.

Why do I get the error 'can't read "TmkEvent::EVT_DATA_CHANGED": no such variable' during restore?

Apparently 6.2 Tivo's dropped support for events. The error you're getting is because there's no event support on your Tivo. Upgrade to the latest version of the backup module - this suppresses the error message which means you can now restore without any problem.

If this applies to you then read the next question!

After I do a restore the Tivo doesn't schedule any of the season passes - how do I get it to schedule them?

Normally when the module restores a season pass it tells the Tivo that a new season pass has been added so that the Tivo can start scheduling it. In 6.2 Tivo dropped support for the event mechanism that the module uses to tell the Tivo to schedule the season pass.

If you're using one of these Tivo's then you'll find that the Todo list will be empty after you've restored all of your season passes. To fix this you just need to reorder one season pass (move it up one position, save it, and then move it down one position and save it) - this will force the Tivo to reschedule all of the season passes.

When I try to restore a backup I find that the list of channels is either incomplete or missing altogether - what's gone wrong?

The list of channels used by the module is provided by Tivoweb - it, in turn, only creates this list of channels when it first starts up. If you have wiped the program guide data or run a guided setup then when your Tivo started the channel list may have been incomplete, which means that the list created by Tivoweb will have been incomplete.

Tivoweb only creates this list once, which means that after the Tivo has finally built the correct list of channels Tivoweb may still be holding onto the incomplete list it originally started with. When you try to restore your backup you get presented with an incomplete list of channels.

The cure is to shut Tivoweb down and restart it, or reboot your Tivo. When Tivoweb comes back it should have the full list of channels and the restore should proceed normally.

When I try to save the backup file with Firefox it doesn't work - it comes back telling me that "The link could not be saved. The web page might have been removed or had its name changed." How do I save backup files with Firefox?

I've no idea why Firefox complains about this - it works fine in Internet Explorer and Opera.

To work around the problem left-click the link instead of right-clicking. Then press Ctrl+U to view the source and then choose File | Save Page As to save the source. Don't worry about the .HTM extension, it doesn't affect the restore.

Note that you cannot just choose "Save Page As" from the browser window, it has to be done from the View Source window. This is because Firefox will add line breaks and HTML tags to the backup file if it is saved from the browser window, which will stop the restore from recognising the file - but it won't corrupt the file if it is saved from the View Source window.

When I restore a backup file (or sometimes when I take a backup) the Tivo reboots! Why is it doing this, and how do I stop it?

The backup module is a memory hog. If Tivoweb runs out of memory, which it can do during a large backup or restore, then it will reboot the Tivo. This will not usually harm a restore - you can just load the backup file and the restore will skip those season passes it restored before the reboot - but it will stop you from taking a full backup.

You can allocate more memory to Tivoweb to work around this problem. Edit the file called 'tivoweb' in the Tivoweb directory and change the line:

export TIVOSH_POOLSIZE=2916352

to:

export TIVOSH_POOLSIZE=3244032

Then stop Tivoweb and restart it.

You may also want to consider installing version 2 or better of TivoWebPlus. A lot of work went into that version to reduce the memory requirements of the modules, including the backup module. Please note however that they have their own version of the backup module, so if you do upgrade to TivoWebPlus then you shouldn't use the version of the module hosted on this site.