Need a Mac OS X backup app for TiVo

[Schmye Bubbula]

Seems like what we Mac users need is a backup program for our TiVo.

Not to backup the Now Playing recordings; they're too large.

I mean to make a bootable backup or disk image of the OS, settings, Season Passes, etc.

So if the TiVo's hard disk fails, we can swap out another one and do a restore to get up and running fast. All that would be lost would be the shows.

And it all needs to run natively as a Mac OS X app and backup over the network to our Mac's hard disk of our choice, internal or external.

Yeah, I know there some Linux programs out there, but you gotta' understand that Mac users have a completely different set of expectations, usability-wise, for their computers. If grandma can't do it, the deal's off!

Any Mac programmers out there? I wonder if it could be done in AppleScript, perhaps in conjunction with some other AppleScriptable app such as SuperDuper!:
http://www.shirt-pocket.com/SuperDuper/SuperDuperDescription.html

[smithken31100]

I didn't know there were backup utilities for the Tivo. I've always used a spreadsheet to keep track of season passes, wishlists, settings, etc.

[Schmye Bubbula]

... I've always used a spreadsheet to keep track of season passes, wishlists, settings, etc.

But I'm seeking a turnkey solution "that just works." So one needn't spend hours manually re-entering Season Passes & settings & doing Guided Setup upon a hard drive replacement.

[ZeoTiVo]

But I'm seeking a turnkey solution "that just works." So one needn't spend hours manually re-entering Season Passes & settings & doing Guided Setup upon a hard drive replacement.
there is no over the network, simple backup of tiVo OS or hard drive images. there is no DOS/windows version either. It is not possible to do without extremely extensive hacking and I have heard of no one doing this. I get the value of such an app and would use it happily if it were avaialble but it is not.

the only way to do what you want is to take the drive out of the TiVo every so often. Download a Linux bootable image CD rom from places like PTVypgrade, put the TiVo drive in the PC, boot from the LINUX cdRom and run the command lines to make a backup image of the drive. The upgrade forum here will have complete details.

[Schmye Bubbula]

there is no over the network, simple backup of tiVo OS or hard drive images. there is no DOS/windows version either. It is not possible to do without extremely extensive hacking and I have heard of no one doing this. I get the value of such an app and would use it happily if it were avaialble but it is not.
Well, I'm just a Mac guy ... As my cleaning lady says, "I don't do Windoze!" But I know for sure that the aforementioned Mac backup utility, SuperDuper!, can make bootable backup clones over the network to another hard drive or to a disk image. It also has provisions to exclude files/directories from the backup, so the enormous Now Playing shows could be skipped. Moreover, because Mac OS X, being BSD Unix, SuperDuper! uses Unix command line functiions, such as "ditto" (I think - I vaguely recall reading once that it uses its own proprietary backup algorithms but falls back on Unix ditto upon failure), so I would think (possibly naively) that a Mac solution should be right up TiVo's Linux alley.


the only way to do what you want is to take the drive out of the TiVo every so often. Download a Linux bootable image CD rom from places like PTVypgrade, put the TiVo drive in the PC, boot from the LINUX cdRom and run the command lines to make a backup image of the drive. The upgrade forum here will have complete details.
Precisely what I want to avoid (and makes grandma's eyes glaze over)! I guess I need to go over there and look again, but I thought I read a few months ago over on the Underground Playground here that Linux utilities exist for backing up one's basic TiVo disk sans shows to another hard disk or disk image, no?

[ZeoTiVo]

I thought I read a few months ago over on the Underground Playground here that Linux utilities exist for backing up one's basic TiVo disk sans shows to another hard disk or disk image, no?
yes, that is the utility I spoke of. You have to take the drive out of the TiVo and have that drive and the one you are writing to in the same PC case to do it.

In order to get at the drive while still in the TiVo and thus backing up over the network would mean hacking the TiVo extensively. It is linux but it is stripped down to be a DVR. You have to "add back" the networking part of LINUX and then also do something to make the parts you wnat to back up accessible. I have not seen any hack like that. SuperSuper or anything is a non starter until the TiVo is hacked to do its end of the process. Again it would be a cool thing to have access to, but just taking the drive out of the TiVo requires no hacking of the TiVo and is just actually easier in the long run

[Schmye Bubbula]

OK, ZeoTiVo, you've finally got it through my thick skull that until the TiVo OS can be made to "publish" its hard drive on the network, there's no way to access it for the kind of backup I'm talking about!

(Presumably once that were done, e.g., as an SMB share or AFP share, then all I'm suggesting would be good to go. But I see now that's a big "if"!)

Thanks for your patience with me, ZeoTiVo!

Now I'm wondering what file system TiVo's hard disk uses. If it uses the Linux Ext2 file system, all I would have to do is remove the drive and plug it in to my Mac with my little ATA-to-USB adapter cable, and use the utility below:

"Ext2 Filesystem enables the use of Linux Ext2 formatted hard disks, floppies, CD-ROMs, etc., from within Mac OS X. Includes support for reading, writing, formatting, etc."

http://sourceforge.net/projects/ext2fsx/

[Arcady]

I have plugged TiVo drives into my Mac and they do show up. However, I have never tried to back anything up on the Mac. I use an old 200mhz PC I got for free to do that.

[Adam1115]

Maybe I'm missing something, but can't the same MFS tools be compiled on an Intel Mac and run under OS X?

[Schmye Bubbula]

I have plugged TiVo drives into my Mac and they do show up. ...
This suggests that TiVo hard drives may use the Unix file system, UFS, which Mac OS X alternatively can mount natively, not Linux Ext2. The plot thickens.

But, alas, methinks the mods soon will be moving this thread to the Underground Playground, for we're now venturing off-topic for this forum.

[ZeoTiVo]

This suggests that TiVo hard drives may use the Unix file system, UFS, which Mac OS X alternatively can mount natively, not Linux Ext2. The plot thickens.

But, alas, methinks the mods soon will be moving this thread to the Underground Playground, for we're now venturing off-topic for this forum.
no you are still fine here. But TiVo uses a modified ext2 file system for storing shows. Theere are two system partitions the Tivo goes between for use during upgrades from TiVo, maybe it is those the Mac sees. I do know if you have the TiVo drive in a PC and mistakenly boot into Windows that it will mess up the TiVo hard drive system partition and it will not work in the TiVo after that without being reimaged. I assume the Mac OS would have some adverse effect as well but have not heard of anything on that.

[Arcady]

After connecting the TiVo drive to the Mac, I plugged it back into a TiVo and it booted just fine. The only reason I did this was because I mixed up a couple of 40gb drives and thought the TiVo drive was a backup of another Mac.

[ADent]

There is supposedly a Mac OS X Version of MFSTools - see http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=355895 and http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=169883&page=2&pp=30 .

The source for MFS tools is available here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mfstools/

Seems like MFSLive.org is picking up development on MFSTools - they don't have a Mac version.

[mattack]

Maybe I'm missing something, but can't the same MFS tools be compiled on an Intel Mac and run under OS X?

I haven't yet tried compiling them on an Intel mac, but I tried long ago compiling them on a PowerPC Mac, and it didn't recognize my *series 1* Tivo hard drive. The guy who initially did the Mac port said it worked for him on his series 2 Tivos.

I've thought it was some sort of byte swapping issue, and always meant to get around to it (esp since I actually have some old drives sitting around that I bought when they were a good deal at $100), but haven't tried again in a long time. But I definitely will whenever I feel the need to expand my S3 Tivo (unless the expansion is officially released/supported by then, which it very well may be). Plus, one of my S1s will be unsubscribed around the beginning of the year (when my 'free' year for transferring to S3 runs out).

[Schmye Bubbula]

My Mac OS X Camino web browser has a menu for Bonjour (auto IP discovery), and my TiVo is in there. It only takes me to a static page that talks about TiVo home networking features, but I wonder how much else is "published" to the network?

[ForrestB]

You could hack the Tivo hard drive in a PC using the SApper (http://www.mastersav.com/Tivo_SApper.html). Once the Tivo hard drive has been hacked, you can use your Mac to backup your Season Passes using TivoWebPlus as shown here http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=250680

[ZeoTiVo]

You could hack the Tivo hard drive in a PC using the SApper (http://www.mastersav.com/Tivo_SApper.html). Once the Tivo hard drive has been hacked, you can use your Mac to backup your Season Passes using TivoWebPlus as shown here http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=250680


a rather important note on doing those hacks (emphasis added)
Note 2: In addition to using the SApper, you may also need to physically replace the prom on your motherboard if you have a newer standalone Tivo. If the first digit of your service number (on the back of your Tivo) is a 5 or 6, then you'll need to have your prom replaced before running The SApper. Replacing your prom is not a do-ityourself project, so it is recommended that you send your Tivo somewhere like here to have it done.

[ZeoTiVo]

My Mac OS X Camino web browser has a menu for Bonjour (auto IP discovery), and my TiVo is in there. It only takes me to a static page that talks about TiVo home networking features, but I wonder how much else is "published" to the network?
TiVo licensed the bonjour software to use for discovery of TiVo services on the network. The bonjour in camino will pick up on it.

you can hit a different web page
https://yourTiVoIPaddress

and type in tivo for password (I think, have not used the web page in a while)
and your MAK for the password. You will see a now playing list of shows and can ftp the .tivo file to the mac. But it is encrypted and needs a tool to decrypt it on the Mac. I do not have Mac PCs so have no advice on any tool.
I do know there is no web access to season passes or anything like that

[Arcady]

You can just use TiVo to Go on the Mac and transfer shows the same way you do on a PC. No need for FTP and all that jazz. And neither method works on a Series 3.

[mattack]

You didn't read the first message.. they're NOT talking about the shows.

[Arcady]

I did read the first message. I was replying to the message above mine.

And I make backups of my TiVos with a PC I got for free - an old 200mhz Gateway 2000 POS that was headed for the trash.

[ZeoTiVo]

You didn't read the first message.. they're NOT talking about the shows.
and he did not read the post I was replying to. in no way did I say this was the way to go but just providing the info on the post about seeing the TiVo in bonjour

[Dr_Zoidberg]

So, as of today, is there a Mac OS X equivalent to the WinMFS program?