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pyTivo - Transcoding server

2M views 6K replies 596 participants last post by  mlippert 
#1 ·
pyTivo lets you stream most videos from your PC to your unhacked TiVo. It uses the HMO server protocol, so no hacking of the TiVo is required.

* It will guess if your video is 4:3 or 16:9 and pad your video if it thinks it is needed (looked good on my tests).
* It will not transcode an mpeg that is supported by your TiVo.
* It will stream TiVo recordings (.tivo).

http://pytivo.armooo.net/

* Master changes
* Subfolder changes
 

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#2,055 ·
Well, I could understand wantingto have the season and episode there, but having just the minor episode number seems totally pointless. I definitely vote for having the ability to remove it entirely, whether optionally or not. It seems to me if it is to be optional, though, then the only option that makes sense is the ability to have the season and episode both appear.
 
#2,056 ·
I would prefer the episode number at the front of the episode title so that they sort correctly in the Tivo display.
 
#2,057 ·
I would prefer the episode number at the front of the episode title so that they sort correctly in the Tivo display.
This does not require anything at all from pyTivo or the MetaGenerator. If you have a metafile associated with a program, the filenames on your server have nothing to do with what is displayed on the NPL, except for the order of listing. Indeed, nothing in the metafile will affect the sort order in the TiVo, and prefixing the episode names in the episodeTitle field with the season and episode number will NOT cause them to sort properly in the NPL.

To do what you want, simply name your programs and their metafiles sequentially on the server. For example, my Lord of the Rings directory looks like this:

Code:
RAID-Server:/RAID/Recordings/Lord of the Rings# ll
total 62568664
drwxrwxrwx  2 lrhorer users        4096 2008-11-02 02:21 .
drwxrwxrwx 35 root    root        36864 2008-12-07 21:23 ..
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users 19960115200 2008-04-12 18:42 1 Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring, The (Recorded Fri Apr 04, 2008, TNTHD).mpg
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users        2082 2008-04-26 02:27 1 Lord of the Rings- The Fellowship of the Ring, The (Recorded Fri Apr 04, 2008, TNTHD).mpg.txt
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users 21379262464 2008-05-02 23:53 2 Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers, The (Recorded Sat Apr 05, 2008, TNTHD).mpg
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users        1946 2008-05-02 21:48 2 Lord of the Rings- The Two Towers, The (Recorded Sat Apr 05, 2008, TNTHD).mpg.txt
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users 22668285952 2008-05-01 03:18 3 Lord of the Rings- The Return of the King, The (Recorded Sun Apr 06, 2008, TNTHD).mpg
-rw-rw-rw-  1 lrhorer users        1933 2008-05-01 02:16 3 Lord of the Rings- The Return of the King, The (Recorded Sun Apr 06, 2008, TNTHD).mpg.txt
RAID-Server:/RAID/Recordings/Lord of the Rings#
Meanwhile, when I go into the Lord of the Rings directory in the NPL, it looks like this:

Code:
"The Fellowship of the Ring"
"The Two Towers"
"The Return of the King"
Should you so choose, you could name them 1.mpg, 2.mpg, and 3.mpg, and they would still come out with the proper names etc. in the NPL. This is true whether they are episodes of a TV series, or not. You might notice I strip any leading "The " in the filename and place it after the program name, but before the "(Recorded..." section. I do this for all files, so the sort order comes out based upon the main title name, but not with a ton of programs beginning with "The " all lumped together. The metafiles have the "The " at the beginning of the title field, however, so the full name comes out in the NPL as The 6th Day, or The Philadelphia Experiment, the former being at the very top of the list and the latter being among the "P"s.

The sort list after transferring back to the TiVo might be a different matter - I'm not sure, but then I don't recommend one transfers large groups of files back to the TiVo. There's little point, and it takes up space on the TiVo, which is limited.

If the episode parms have to be there, I would vastly prefer they appear at the end. If anything gets truncated, I would prefer it be that.
 
#2,058 ·
Ok, I am new to this so please do not laugh.

If I understnad this you download the pyTivo program from here:
http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.0/

Or should I get 2.5 or 2.6?

Install it on your PC, for me the Windows AMD64 MSI Installer (I have Vista 64). Then I can see the share folder it creates on my PC on my Tivo.

And select the files I want say Family_trop_2008.avi and watch it on my TV through Tivo?

Is this correct or did I miss something?

Also does it leave the files on the PC just view them trough the Tivo/TV or does it physical move them over to the Tivo and store them there to watch/delete?

Thanks much
 
#2,062 ·
Ok, so it just streams from the PC never copies it over so good to have the tivo connected via a cable and not wireless?

Will it play .avi files?
It works fine over 802.11g wireless given that you have a decent connection. HD stuff can be a little slow in transfer depending on your computer speed. The Tivo's itself throttles transfers so going from wireless to wired only yields a small improvement (that is if you have a strong wireless signal to begin with.)
 
#2,064 ·
#2,065 ·
I moved a dvr-ms file from MS Media Center recorded TV (Time 1 hr, 5 minutes) into the pytivo share file. I then downloaded it to THD where file size was 4 GB.
(THD set to 480i). Then downloaded from the THD to a Series 2. File size on the S2 was 3.97 GB. I tried to note the metadata but it seems to have disappeared. Then I downloaded the same file direct from the Tivo share to the S2. File was only 1.99 GB. Approximately half the size of the same file I downloaded from the THD. I could not notice any difference in the metadata. Both seemed to be 720 x 480. I could not detect any difference in display quality. Why the difference in file size?

Just curious?
 
#2,067 ·
Ok, I am new to this so please do not laugh.

If I understnad this you download the pyTivo program from here:
http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.0/

Or should I get 2.5 or 2.6?

Install it on your PC, for me the Windows AMD64 MSI Installer (I have Vista 64). Then I can see the share folder it creates on my PC on my Tivo.

And select the files I want say Family_trop_2008.avi and watch it on my TV through Tivo?

Is this correct or did I miss something?

Also does it leave the files on the PC just view them trough the Tivo/TV or does it physical move them over to the Tivo and store them there to watch/delete?

Thanks much
It's actually a bit more complicated than that. There are two different software suites you need to download and install: pyTivo and Python.

pyTivo is the software that enables your TiVo to play movies and music stored on your computer. It's written in a computer language called "Python" (note the "py" in the name pyTivo).

Python is a "scripted" language, which means that you run Python programs by means of a "Python Interpreter" which reads the Python scripts and converts the commands stored therein into commands your computer understands.

The URL you listed above (http://www.python.org/download/releases/3.0/) is the download location for the latest version of the Python interpreter -- but, and this is extremely important, you can't use the latest version of Python with pyTivo. Version 3.0 of Python is not backwards-compatible with earlier versions, which means scripts that work under previous versions are not guaranteed to run under version 3.0. This was done on purpose by the Python developers; I haven't followed things closely enough to know if I agree with their reasoning, but they obviously think there was something important enough about this latest version to break backwards compatibility.

You should download and install the latest version of Python in the 2.6.x tree, which as of today can be found at http://www.python.org/download/releases/2.6.1/. I think pyTivo will work with the AMD64 version of Python (I saw some comments about that in another thread) but it's not as well-tested, so you might want to use the "Windows x86 MSI Installer" instead.

Once you've installed Python, you also need to download and install pyTivo. Unfortunately, the pyTivo download situation is a bit messier. There are several people working on pyTivo, and they each have their own versions of the basic code, called "branches". They are unsung heroes who have provided an immense amount of happiness to hundreds, if not thousands, of pyTivo users, but (in my opinion) it's a bit difficult to figure out exactly what version of pyTivo to download, especially if you're not a computer geek. Since the folks who are working on pyTivo are doing it in their spare time, out of the goodness of their hearts, and for free, it's fair to expect us to do a bit of work to get pyTivo running.

Since from the contents of your original post it seems like you're not a computer geek, I think you might want to try downloading one of these two versions:

http://pytivo.krkeegan.com/download.php?id=114
http://pytivo.krkeegan.com/download.php?id=115

I haven't tried doing this myself, as I downloaded pyTivo in a more computer-geeky way (from the "git repository", to be exact), but as far as I can tell each of these links points to a compressed "Zip" archive file, which you should be able to open with freely-available Windows utilities. You should be able to extract the Windows installer "exe" file stored in the zip file you downloaded. Run this installer to install pyTivo.

You then need to configure pyTivo. There are helpful comments and links on this page:

http://pytivo.armooo.net/wiki/WindowsInstall

Sorry I can't be more specific (I'm out of time); you will need to read up and put in a little bit of effort to get pyTivo working -- but trust me, it's worth it.

-Polar Weasel
 
#2,068 ·
Using the pytivo webpage method of program transfer, I am confused as to what path I need to enter (the box below the MAK) to make the a file go to a designated Tivo. (I have 3).

Could someone explain or give some examples of what to type into that box?
That box is the local path (on your PC where you are running pyTivo) where you want to save recordings you're downloading from your TiVos. It's not used for sending files to a TiVo.
 
#2,070 ·
That box is the local path (on your PC where you are running pyTivo) where you want to save recordings you're downloading from your TiVos. It's not used for sending files to a TiVo.
Thanks, that clears it up for me. I can specify any "share" I have created, then. Or any other file like "My Tivo Recordings", where I want to save the videos, right? Neat!

Thanks for all your patience. I'm just an old fart trying to learn.
 
#2,071 ·
I am trying to run Pytivo on TWO computers so that I can download files to my S3 tivo.

The older one is XP and the newer one is Vista HomePremium.

Oddly, when I go to my Tivo, I have seen the Vista's tivo.conf referenced files/folders (do you folks call them shares) and then in a flash, I see the ones from the XP and then vice versa! Finally, it settles down to one or the other but I'm not sure I see the rhyme or reason for which one prevails.

Can I funnel two computers to one tivo using Pytivo.

Another thing, the conversions from the Vista pc seem to stall. I can see the beginning of "Life" but then it stops. So I would guess I have the correct codec for conversion but maybe NOT????

Maybe I should ask separately but my Canon digital camera apparently produces "Motion JPEG" and gspot says that I have the codec. Window MP shows it as using "MainConcept Color Space Converter" Why would this not download to the Tivo or actually only show ZERO time and not display?

Thanks in advance
 
#2,072 ·
I am trying to run Pytivo on TWO computers so that I can download files to my S3 tivo.

The older one is XP and the newer one is Vista HomePremium.

Oddly, when I go to my Tivo, I have seen the Vista's tivo.conf referenced files/folders (do you folks call them shares) and then in a flash, I see the ones from the XP and then vice versa! Finally, it settles down to one or the other but I'm not sure I see the rhyme or reason for which one prevails.

Can I funnel two computers to one tivo using Pytivo.

Another thing, the conversions from the Vista pc seem to stall. I can see the beginning of "Life" but then it stops. So I would guess I have the correct codec for conversion but maybe NOT????

Maybe I should ask separately but my Canon digital camera apparently produces "Motion JPEG" and gspot says that I have the codec. Window MP shows it as using "MainConcept Color Space Converter" Why would this not download to the Tivo or actually only show ZERO time and not display?

Thanks in advance
This exact question was recently raised on the pyTivo discussion forums (http://pytivo.krkeegan.com/). rdian06 made the following suggestion:

Who's fork version are you using? Older pyTivo versions use a fixed default guid. The newer forks choose a randomized guid on startup. The guid value is what the Tivos use to distinguish different instances of pyTivo.

The guid is a six digit number. You probably should define it for your two pyTivo instances rather than just letting it be random.

It belongs in the Server section of your pyTivo.conf. See:

http://pytivo.armooo.net/wiki/ConfigurepyTivo#guid
A "guid" is a "globally unique identifier", a number used to identify different instances of pyTivo. Try setting "guid" to two different values in the Server sections of your pyTivo.conf file as rdian06 suggested, and then restarting both instances of pyTivo.

-Polarweasel
 
#2,073 ·
Polarweasel:

Thanks, I will change one/both and see how that works. Now to figure out why stuff is not properly transcoding. Migrating from an older XP computer to a newer Vista computer is driving me to drink (which is not always bad). I am running into issues with my email program, too. Hair is already thin!
 
#2,075 ·
Polarweasel:

Thanks - both computers now show on the Tivo.

I recall discussion on ZERO "duration" from ages ago. I will see if I can find those doing a search.

Now, where do I find the HD photo "modules" that I had on my older computer?

Computer Migration is a PAIN!
What version of pyTivo are you using? wmcbrine's branch has had his photo plugin built-in since something like February 2008. I think it's HD, but I'm not positive. All you have to do to use his plugin is install the Python Imaging Library (in addition to Python) and properly configure a "photos" share in your pytivo.conf file.

Check the page http://www.pythonware.com/products/pil/index.htm and download the PIL installer that matches your version of Python. I think all you have to do then is run the installer. Once you've done that, configure a [photos] share pointing at the directory containing your photos. Again, I'm not 100% sure the built-in photos plugin supports HD resolutions by default, but it looks pretty good to me.

Finally, regarding your zero-duration video transfers -- I think you said the videos you're trying to transfer are from a Canon camera. If so, I'm having the same problem you are. For example, this morning I shot a 4-minute, 460MB video on my SD800IS and copied the AVI file to my pyTivo share. It showed up in my Now Playing List just fine, and I was able to start the transfer, but no data past 00:00 actually transferred.

I tried running "ffmpeg_mp2 -i <movie_file>, and ffmpeg seemed not to have any problems with the AVI, but apparently something goes wrong during the transcoding process. I started a process to convert the AVI to MPEG-2 earlier today, so hopefully by the time I get home it will be done.

I'm not very facile with the ffmpeg command-line parameters, but if I have time I'll muck about with the file to see if I can figure out what the failure mode is. It seems likely to be a video format problem.

-Polarweasel
 
#2,076 ·
I think I got the Python photo stuff this morning but have not had a chance to try it.

The zero duration videos are both canon short avi's and a Hauppauge TV card capture of the TV show "Life". They generally show up as mpeg2, I think but they have some screwy "opening frames" or header stuff that I trim to even view them on the computer, never mind the tivo.

I may post a separate question in the S3 forum on that issue.

Thanks for your assistance and if you learn anything I'd be happy to hear about it.
 
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