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pyTivoX

347K views 1K replies 205 participants last post by  elmeng 
#1 ·
pyTivoX is an Apple Mac OSX application that lets you view movies that are stored on your computer via your Tivo.

It provides both pyTivo and streambaby, and all necessary support applications/libraries.

You can read more about it and download it at http://pytivox.googlecode.com/

It has a very simple user interface, and 'just works'.

And yes, it's entirely free. No registration required. Source code available on the same web page.
 
#77 ·
I have my iTunes..Movies folder set as the shared folder. It does have a bunch of MP4 movies.
I double checked...the folder selected is shared. I changed the folder above it to be shared as well, in case that makes a difference.
I still don't get it to show up.
I have TivoDeskTop On -- I did buy Toast. Does this need to be off? Apparently not, as I just turned it off and it still didn't work. So, I turned TivoDeskTop back on.
 
#78 ·
Neither Toast or TiVo Desktop for Mac OSX should interfere (I have both and TiVo Desktop is on)

Are these videos from the iTunes Music Store? If so, they're protected with Apple's DRM and nothing other than Apple's software or hardware knows how to unlock them.

- Bob
 
#80 ·
No - they are not protected.
Thanks -- I'd suggest putting them somewhere else though if you can. Depending on your setup, there can be other protected movies and/or music in the iTunes folder structure. If not, I suppose it's possible for iTunes to also have some of those files in use when iTunes is running. This is all conjecture on my part -- but I'm keeping my pyTiVo movies in a completely separate folder (just like I used to do with TiVoDotNet) and then setting up the share for that folder and don't include the iTunes folder structure at all.

- Bob
 
#81 ·
It's definitely nothing to do wth security settings.. Otherwise your tivo would at least see the share, but the share may be unable to provide the movies.

From the one line in the log, I'd guess that pytivo isn't running right. It generally outputs a bunch of warnings when it runs (about cheetah and whatnot).

So, my first question:
what happens when you run (in Terminal.app)
Code:
python -V
If it reports anything other than 2.5.1, then first I'd ask "are you sure you're on 10.5?"

Ok, if it reports 2.5.1, then make sure pyTivoX isn't running (use the Exit button, not the close window button).

then run the following:
Code:
python /Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/pyTivo-wgw/pyTivo.py
I'm wondering if that reports anything interesting to stdout..
 
#82 ·
I'm definitely on 10.5.5. Here is the Terminal output:

GSR1-MAC:~ GSR$ python -V
Python 2.5.1
GSR1-MAC:~ GSR$ python /Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/pyTivo-wgw/pyTivo.py
INFO:pyTivo:pyTivo is ready.

The :p above should be ":" followed by "p" that is : p without the space between them
 
#83 ·
I'm definitely on 10.5.5. Here is the Terminal output:

GSR1-MAC:~ GSR$ python -V
Python 2.5.1
GSR1-MAC:~ GSR$ python /Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/pyTivo-wgw/pyTivo.py
INFO:pyTivo:pyTivo is ready.

The :p above should be ":" followed by "p" that is : p without the space between them
Hmm.. (btw, if you want it not to replace the smilies, highlight the chunk and select the 'code' tags from the menu (it looks like a big # )).

Ok, so it's the right version of python, and the right code base. So now the only thing left to wonder about is the settings of your pyTivo.conf... so can you run

Code:
cat ~/Library/Application\ Support/pyTivoX/pyTivo.conf
and paste the output here? I must say this is strange :(
 
#84 ·
Okay. I decided to add a different share folder and put on the desktop, in a folder called tivo, just like in your screenshot. It didn't make a difference.
I then figured, maybe I should restart my Tivo, so went ahead and restarted it.
When it came back up, I went to the Now Playing and saw both shared folders, and saw the movies within the folders!
I am now in the process of downloading a movie onto the Tivo. I expect it to work and will let you know tomorrow night.
It looks like all I needed to do was to restart the Tivo, for whatever reason.
I appreciate your help (and Bob's). Hopefully this thread will help others.
 
#85 ·
Okay. I decided to add a different share folder and put on the desktop, in a folder called tivo, just like in your screenshot. It didn't make a difference.
I then figured, maybe I should restart my Tivo, so went ahead and restarted it.
When it came back up, I went to the Now Playing and saw both shared folders, and saw the movies within the folders!
I am now in the process of downloading a movie onto the Tivo. I expect it to work and will let you know tomorrow night.
It looks like all I needed to do was to restart the Tivo, for whatever reason.
I appreciate your help (and Bob's). Hopefully this thread will help others.
Wow. Well, glad it's working now...
I guess next time I get a similar question my first answer will be 'reboot!' :)

By the way you don't need to wait for the whole movie to download. You can generally view it as you're downloading (although if your download is slow, it will end up stopping a lot).

Thanks for your patience...
 
#87 ·
I'm going to try it. I actually had NOT updated to 10.5 because TivoDotNet only ran in 10.4. But as Bob said, the latest TivoHD update killed it.

A question, will it work if my video directory is on a drive mounted via SMB? I have my videos in my Network Attached Storage. I don't have space in my main HD to do it. I need to know otherwise I'll have to stick with TDN working on the Series 2
 
#88 ·
A question, will it work if my video directory is on a drive mounted via SMB? I have my videos in my Network Attached Storage. I don't have space in my main HD to do it. I need to know otherwise I'll have to stick with TDN working on the Series 2
With pyTivo I've successfully shared videos from a network drive mounted with afp, so I'd think it really shouldn't matter.
 
#89 ·
I'm going to try it. I actually had NOT updated to 10.5 because TivoDotNet only ran in 10.4. But as Bob said, the latest TivoHD update killed it.
That's odd because I had TDN running on at least three different machines all using Leopard -- but everything is now switched over to pyTiVoX now...
 
#90 ·
I'm going to try it. I actually had NOT updated to 10.5 because TivoDotNet only ran in 10.4. But as Bob said, the latest TivoHD update killed it.

A question, will it work if my video directory is on a drive mounted via SMB? I have my videos in my Network Attached Storage. I don't have space in my main HD to do it. I need to know otherwise I'll have to stick with TDN working on the Series 2
I have all of my vids stored on a SMB NAS and it works great.
 
#92 ·
Ok, maybe spoke too soon.

First observations:

Pros:
1. Great! I can have content on an external drive and it is recognized!
2. I can organize content into folders!!!

1. Con so far:

The Aspect button DOES NOT WORK.
I tried the same movie via Tivo desktop (widescreen DVD RIP) and the Aspect button allows all 3 options (Panel, Zoom, Full).
With pyTivoX, I am stuck at Zoom (on a 4:3 TV)
Is there a fix for this?

Is this a pyTivo problem (will check online)?

Norbert
 
#93 ·
The aspect button stops working when the TiVo thinks that aspect ratio of the program matches that of the screen. So, it thinks that either both are 16:9, or both are 4:3. To know which, I'd have to know what model of TiVo you're talking about, and how it's set under Settings > Video > TV Aspect Ratio.

And no, this isn't pyTivoX-specific, so we should probably continue this elsewhere. (I am however not ready to call it "a pyTivo problem" because we first have to establish that it's a problem.)
 
#94 ·
....I'd have to know what model of TiVo you're talking about, and how it's set under Settings > Video > TV Aspect Ratio.
The Tivo is a S3.
Video settings are set to "4:3 Classic Screen(4:3 only)"
(it's a 4:3 TV)

And no, this isn't pyTivoX-specific, so we should probably continue this elsewhere. (I am however not ready to call it "a pyTivo problem" because we first have to establish that it's a problem.)
It's specific in this case because it's not happening in any other situation. I have no other "Aspect" issues and I am using no other PC->Tivo app (other than Tivo Desktp for OSX and "Aspect" works fine there)

I've installed pyTivoX because of the simple set-up, and the Tivo/pyTivoX interaction seems to be raising the issue.

If there is a Tivo S3 setting that would resolve this please let me (us) know.
If I have to adjust pyTivo settings ... then it defeats the purpose of pyTivoX (for me--simple set-up).

Thanks,
Norbert
 
#96 ·
This is really a cool program. I've been able to get it up and running with very little effort - just the type of program I like :D Kudos to the developer.

I'm getting a little confused about the settings that I should be using in my pytivo.conf file. If I'm using this on a Series 3, do I need to override the default configuration? If I leave the pytivo.conf file alone (basically empty) will I get the best possible transcoding? I have a fair amount of processing power available, so increasing the bitrates shouldn't be a problem.

The reason I was wondering about changing from the default levels is that I transferred a 720p mkv to the Series 3 and it was a bit choppy. What should I be tweaking to eliminate that problem?

Thanks for any pointers.
 
#97 ·
I am having a problem getting pyTivoX to work. I downloaded the most recent version of pyTivoX and dragged the application to my applications folder. I established a shared directory with both .mov and .mp4 movies in it. I clicked the "Restart" button in pyTivoX. I find the shared folder on the Tivo and all of the movies are in it. However, when I try to play any of the movies I immediately get a message saying that "Transferring prohibited by the copyright holder" even for movies that I created myself. On my mac, a message always simultaneously pops up that says "The application ffmpeg has quit unexpectedly."

I have a Mac G4 Dual 1.25 GHz running 10.5.6 and a TivoHD. Does anybody have an idea of what the problem might be? Is there something else I should have done?

Thanks for any help.
 
#98 ·
I'm getting a little confused about the settings that I should be using in my pytivo.conf file. If I'm using this on a Series 3, do I need to override the default configuration?
I believe the default setup is supposed to work on HDTVs fine. I'll let a developer jump in and comment though (I just wrote the front-end.. not the pyTivo script).

A quick heads-up though. If you change any of the settings (the easiest way is to connect to http://localhost:9032/ ), do not use the 'restart' button. (The restart button overwrites the config file and restarts the program). Just exit and run the program when you need a restart...
 
#99 ·
I have a Mac G4 Dual 1.25 GHz running 10.5.6 and a TivoHD. Does anybody have an idea of what the problem might be? Is there something else I should have done?
It sounds like ffmpeg is crashing when trying to transcode the files to mpeg-2 streams for your tivo. I don't have a powerPC mac to test with, but it's possible that I failed to build ffmpeg correctly for it... Can you do me a favor and open up a Terminal.app and run

Code:
tail -20 /tmp/pyTivoX.log
/Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg
and then cut/paste the output here?
 
#100 ·
It sounds like ffmpeg is crashing when trying to transcode the files to mpeg-2 streams for your tivo. I don't have a powerPC mac to test with, but it's possible that I failed to build ffmpeg correctly for it... Can you do me a favor and open up a Terminal.app and run

Code:
tail -20 /tmp/pyTivoX.log
/Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg
and then cut/paste the output here?
Okay, here's the output, I think (I'm new to terminal and to posting!):

tail -20 /tmp/pyTivoX.log
INFO:pyTivo:pyTivo is ready.
/Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/pyTivo-wgw/Cheetah/Compiler.py:1508: UserWarning:
You don't have the C version of NameMapper installed! I'm disabling Cheetah's useStackFrames option as it is painfully slow with the Python version of NameMapper. You should get a copy of Cheetah with the compiled C version of NameMapper.
"\nYou don't have the C version of NameMapper installed! "
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:28:58] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:29:25] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:29:55] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:29:58] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryFormats&SourceFormat=video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg HTTP/1.1" 404 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:29:58] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=pyTivo%20Share&SortOrder=Title&ItemCount=8&Filter=x-tivo-container%2Ftivo-videos,x-tivo-container%2Ffolder,video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg,video%2F* HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:01] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryFormats&SourceFormat=video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg HTTP/1.1" 404 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:02] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=pyTivo%20Share&SortOrder=Title&ItemCount=1&AnchorItem=%2FpyTivo%2520Share%2FCoca%2520Cola.mov&AnchorOffset=-1&Filter=x-tivo-container%2Ftivo-videos,x-tivo-container%2Ffolder,video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg,video%2F* HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:02] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=TVBusQuery&Container=pyTivo%20Share&File=%2FCoca%20Cola.mov HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:04] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryFormats&SourceFormat=video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg HTTP/1.1" 404 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:04] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=pyTivo%20Share&SortOrder=Title&ItemCount=8&AnchorItem=%2FpyTivo%2520Share%2FCoca%2520Cola.mov&AnchorOffset=-2&Filter=x-tivo-container%2Ftivo-videos,x-tivo-container%2Ffolder,video%2Fx-tivo-mpeg,video%2F* HTTP/1.1" 200 -
10.0.1.197 - - [10/Jan/2009 22:30:07] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
/Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg[Joe-Casalnuovos-Computer:~] jacasalnuovo% /Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg
 
#101 ·
Okay, here's the output, I think (I'm new to terminal and to posting!):
I see the output of the first command (looks like pyTivo is running fine). I do not see the output of the second command though...

Make sure you hit return after typing it in... it should look something like:
Code:
/Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg
FFmpeg version SVN-r16163, Copyright (c) 2000-2008 Fabrice Bellard, et al.
  configuration: --arch=i386 --disable-vhook --disable-shared --enable-static --enable-pthreads --disable-mmx --enable-gpl --enable-libmp3lame --enable-libfaac --enable-libfaad --enable-libx264 --enable-swscale --extra-cflags=-I/Users/yoav/src/lame/include -I/Users/yoav/src/faad2/include -I/Users/yoav/src/faac/include -I/Users/yoav/src/x264 --extra-ldflags=-L/Users/yoav/src/lame/libmp3lame/.libs -L/Users/yoav/src/faad2/libfaad/.libs -L/Users/yoav/src/faac/libfaac/.libs -L/Users/yoav/src/x264/
  libavutil     49.12. 0 / 49.12. 0
  libavcodec    52. 6. 3 / 52. 6. 3
  libavformat   52.23. 1 / 52.23. 1
  libavdevice   52. 1. 0 / 52. 1. 0
  libswscale     0. 6. 1 /  0. 6. 1
  built on Dec 15 2008 22:59:00, gcc: 4.0.1 (Apple Inc. build 5484)
At least one output file must be specified
 
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