How to save old content?

[bcronin]

I am replacing my ancient Hughes GXCEB0T which I had upgraded to 200 hrs with a new unit in about 10 days. After the old unit has been deactivated, is there any way to still view the content stored on it? There's 200 hours of stuff on there and there's no way I can archive it all to tape. What are my options (if any)? Thanks for any advice.
--
bc

[goony]

AFAIK, a DirecTivo that is unsubscribed will still play stored content - thus, you should be able to get a standalone DVD recorder to dump things off to DVD. Hooks up just like a VCR, but much, much better.

If you need to do edits, look for a DVD recorder with a built-in hard drive.

[JimSpence]

For the $4.99 per month mirroring fee, why not keep it on your account and use it? Afterall, four tuners are better than 2. :)

[Hodaka]

agreed.. 4 tuners has made scheduling conflicts a thing of the past and my wife can have her R10 and I have mine. :) No more soaps and children's shows mixed in with my shows. :D :D


For the $4.99 per month mirroring fee, why not keep it on your account and use it? Afterall, four tuners are better than 2. :)

[bcronin]

For the $4.99 per month mirroring fee, why not keep it on your account and use it? Afterall, four tuners are better than 2. :)
Not enough cable drops ...

[JimSpence]

That's no excuse. Get a multiswitch and keep that sucker. :)

You can still watch what has been recorded even after it has been deactivated.

[bcronin]

That's no excuse. Get a multiswitch and keep that sucker. :)

You can still watch what has been recorded even after it has been deactivated.
I have one, but it only has provision for 2 receivers and I have another one already. Maybe I can get DirecTv to replace it with a better one when they come to install the new receiver next week. But I would still need two more cables run a very long way. I have two going to each receiver already. One is close to the dish. The other, the one thats being replaced, is at the farthest spot away from the dish that it could possibly be and still be inside ;-) Not sure I want to spring for that. I rather like the idea of getting a DVD recorder to replace my stupid VCR. I think I'll go that way instead. Got any recommendations for good DVD recorders?

So, to watch stuff off of a deactivated Series 1 unit, what do I do exactly? Just leave it connected to one of the inputs on my receiver and use it as normal? It doesn't get torked off about there being no satellite signal, etc? No special considerations other than not being able to hit the LiveTv button and see anything? I should at least turn off season passes, suggestions, etc. no?

By the by Jim, did you formerly work at a famous 3-letter technology firm? Did I ask you that already? I'm getting forgetful in my old age ;-)

Cheers,
BC

[stevel]

Yep - just use it as normal. If you get to the point where it is looking for the satellites. press the TiVo/DirecTV button to skip the search. You won't be able to get to the menus for season passes, etc., so ignore those.

[JimSpence]

By the by Jim, did you formerly work at a famous 3-letter technology firm? Did I ask you that already? I'm getting forgetful in my old age ;-)Nope, never worked for that famous company. And, I think I was asked that. It could have been you. ;)

[Sue C.]

Bob, it will keep trying to search for satellite signal, but you just hit the DirecTV button and it goes to TiVo Central.

If you keep it in the same room with another TiVo, be sure to map the remote controls to each unit! I deleted several shows off an inactive TiVo by accident when I had two in the same room for a while.

DVD Recorders: Researching those things will make your head spin! I bought a Magnavox MRV660/17 which I'm happy with, considering the low price ($130). It doesn't have all the bells and whistles but it does what I need and I like the on-screen interface better than the other one I tried (Memorex brand… it was awful). Mine does not have a HD, but still allows some basic editing when you use RW discs. For instance, you can edit out commercials by marking sections to be hidden in the finalized DVD.

A lot of people say to get one with a hard drive, but then it takes longer to get something archived because you have to go TiVo > HD, then HD > DVD disc.

[goony]

A lot of people say to get one with a hard drive, but then it takes longer to get something archived because you have to go TiVo > HD, then HD > DVD disc.It only takes longer if you want to use the edit functions. I have a HD (hard drive) DVD recorder and find that 90% of my burns are direct DTivo -> DVD, and only 10% do I end up wanting to edit, thus involving the extra hard drive recording step.

Also, on many units, the burn from HD to the DVD occurs at a "faster than 1X play speed".

[mattack]

A lot of people say to get one with a hard drive, but then it takes longer to get something archived because you have to go TiVo > HD, then HD > DVD disc.

It may take longer in actual clock time.. but since the Tivo -> HD part can be done UNATTENDED, and you can edit the recordings on the hard drive (remove bits before the show, after the show, commercials, only save a specific bit, etc..), it's actually MORE convenient..

Unless you're actually recording for ~1:02 to the DVD and don't care about wasting the space. (I know, DVD-Rs are dirt cheap, but I still like to be able to have as much real content as possible.)

Err, the HD -> DVD part can be done unattended too..

[john-duncan-yoyo]

I have one, but it only has provision for 2 receivers and I have another one already. Maybe I can get DirecTv to replace it with a better one when they come to install the new receiver next week. But I would still need two more cables run a very long way. I have two going to each receiver already. One is close to the dish. The other, the one thats being replaced, is at the farthest spot away from the dish that it could possibly be and still be inside ;-)\


You can put another Multi-switch at the end of that very long cable run where you have the tivo now. I had the installer do this to avoid pulling cables through the crawl space, again. Works great. The Installer didn't know that you could do that but it works fine and is less work for him.

[Jonathan_S]

You can put another Multi-switch at the end of that very long cable run where you have the tivo now. I had the installer do this to avoid pulling cables through the crawl space, again. Works great. The Installer didn't know that you could do that but it works fine and is less work for him.Running a multiswitch from only two inputs (which is what I assume you have at the end of the cables) only gives you the main 101 satellite.

Now if that is all you receive (circular single satellite dish), then that's no problem.

Otherwise you need to be aware that using this setup blocks receivers hooked up to this second multiswitch from accessing any programming on the 110, 119, or new 72.5 satellites. (Receivers hooked up to the first multswitch or directly to the dish can still receive channels from all satellites).

[cindycrane]

Can I use the DVD writer on my Sony Viao desktop computer to transfer shows that are recorded on my R10? If so, how would I go about doing that? Thanks.

[JimSpence]

You just play the show on the R10 and capture the video/audio to your PC. Then you need DVD authoring software to burn it to a DVD.
Check this thread.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=251692

[rlj5242]

A video capture card or external video digital interface like the ones from Dazzle.

-Robert

[tbeckner]

A video capture card or external video digital interface like the ones from Dazzle.

-RobertDo you have an ATI Graphics adapter with VIVO or an ATI ALL-IN-WONDER card? If you do, you are set.

[rbreding]

Why has noone told this guy that he can extract his shows and move them to the new tivo ? Granted it is taboo to say extract, but come on....save your shows to tape ?

[stevel]

Because you can't. Or rather, if you try, you'll get picture but no sound. Been there, done that. I also assume that he doesn't have a network adapter for the GXCEB0T.

[MikeF]

Why has noone told this guy that he can extract his shows and move them to the new tivo ? Granted it is taboo to say extract, but come on....save your shows to tape ?
only after the box is hacked will that work (as I understand it). Shows before hacking are encrypted. I'm new to this so maybe there is another way, but thats what I've found so far.

[stevel]

Still won't work. Yes, to get to the point of copying shows, you would have to "hack" both boxes to disable encryption (and add a network adapter to both), decrypt the existing shows on the old box (can be done if the box still works), and then use something like mfs_ftp to transfer the shows. The catch is that the S1 DTiVo recorded show won't play sound on the S2. There is no known solution for that (as far as I know.)

I suppose one could save the shows to a PC and play them there, but that's still a sizeable money and time investment to get to that point.