Tivo Hd, A Mac And Ttg [Text View]

ALK3011

11-03-2007, 02:08 PM

Please help. I have been doing a ton of reading and I am VERY confused. I have an HD Tivo. I also have an iMac. I am currently running OS 10.4.10 but am about to upgade to the new OS 10.5 Leopard. Does Tivo To Go work on from the HD Tivo to the iMac running either OS 10.4.10 or 10.5??? I know that I need Toast, but have heard that Toast does and does not work. I don't want to make the Toast purchase if this will not work. The ultimate goal is to get the shows to my iPod. (i know this may be answered elseware, but I cannot find it.) I appreciate any help and guidance anyone can provide.
thanks!

btwyx

11-03-2007, 02:35 PM

Toast works to transfer video if your S3/HD has the 9.2 software. You can export for the iPod.

9.2 isn't generally released yet as far as I know, but some people have got an early release of it (like me). You can sign up for the priority list to get it as early as possible.

When you say "HD TiVo", do you mean "TiVo HD". "HD TiVo" has been used to refer to Series 3s and to HR10-250s (Direct TV units). This works with TiVo HDs and Series 3s, but not HR10s.

ALK3011

11-03-2007, 02:40 PM

sorry for the confusion..I have TiVo HD (not the Direct Tv version). The TiVo software i have is 9.1-01-2-652. But I did get a message this week on the unit saying TTG was active.

hearncl

11-03-2007, 04:29 PM

I just installed 10.5 Leopard, and video transfer works OK (I have TiVo software 9.2). There is a freeware program called TiVoDecode Manager that transfers programs from TiVo to Mac. You may need additional software to convert the transferred Mpeg-2 files to other formats for viewing, iPod, burning to DVD, etc. (In the current version of TiVoDecode Manager, only the Mpeg-2 import format works.)

fatespawn

11-03-2007, 04:36 PM

I know that I need Toast, but have heard that Toast does and does not work. I don't want to make the Toast purchase if this will not work. The ultimate goal is to get the shows to my iPod. (i know this may be answered elseware, but I cannot find it.) I appreciate any help and guidance anyone can provide.
thanks!

I can't answer your 10.4 to 10.5 questions, but as for iPod conversions, all you need is TivoDecodeManager.

There's even a preset for mp4 iPod downloads. It's more limited than Toast, but it's free and Toast currently doesn't work 100% with the latest fall Tivo software update.

A better, more flexible way to do it, would be to use TDM to download the native mpeg2 files to your Mac. Then you are free to use any number of converters to change your shows into whatever format you want.

I just downloaded an 8GB PBS HD special last night (2 hrs in 720p). Dropped the mpeg2 file into VisualHub (~$24.00) and was able to convert it to VIDEO_TS folders that I just dropped into Toast and burned a DVD. It's not high def, but it's anamorphic 480p and with the compression already done by PBS, you can't really tell much of a difference.

legendarybc

11-03-2007, 04:55 PM

I use TiVo Decode Manager with my S3 (running 9.2) and my PowerBook (running 10.4). It works perfectly. I'll be upgrading to Leopard 10.5 tomorrow and can report my results if anyone is interested.

BC

sonicboom

11-03-2007, 07:35 PM

Microman66

11-03-2007, 08:52 PM

Chimpware

11-04-2007, 08:33 AM

I wanna invest in Tivo stock, I wanna buy another Tivo HD. I have two S2's. But everything that transfers is so slow. It is not useable.

ReplayTV technology is 5 years old, and I can move shows, and watch them instantaneously from the computer TV or TV to computer...

I cant believe more people aren't complaining or having trouble...I am a big Tivo Advocate. But not happy with my setup, currently.

Especially when I have the Replaytv's sitting right next to the Tivo Hardware.

11 minute segment saying its going to take 3 hours to download with Tivo DECODE Manager...

What should I check?

You must have some network issues. On my 2 Tivo HDs SD shows (which would compare to ReplayTV) transfer at higher than real time rates allowing me to watch immediately. HD programs do take a longer time, usually 1.5 times real time for me, so those I need to let buffer a bit before watching. 3 hours sounds like an 1 hour HD show using a wireless G network.

wilfried

11-04-2007, 06:44 PM

hearncl

11-04-2007, 10:06 PM

When I tried TiVoDecode the result file had no sound.... Exporting from Toast works fine.... Any idea why ?
If you play the downloaded file using Quicktime, there will be no audio. VLC media player should work, though.

magnudoodle

11-05-2007, 12:27 AM

I've tried this six different ways now :)

The goal: get tivo onto ipod.

I have a tivoHD and a intel based mac running osx 10.4.10.

tivodecode manager sometimes downloads shows, but many times it stops at 0.08% in, or some other unreasonably reproducible number. It depends on the show, but there's not a pattern as far as I can tell. Not the quality of recording, hd or not, length, anything like that. I have managed to get a half hour and a one hour non-hd recording off, but I have about a 15% success rate and the tivodecode manager has to try about four times before it finally gets it down.

I tried just pulling it down via the web server, but for whatever reason the video is all garbled when it comes out of visual hub. I'm just doing the trial version, but I am not inspired to buy.

I put my name on the 9.2 priority list and am thinking about trying toast. Before I spend the money, did anyone see the kind of stuff I'm seeing without toast and then get toast and it worked better?

Perhaps that's like asking for a green rabbit to bring me a fresh baked pumpkin pie, but perhaps it'll pan out.

Supermurph

11-05-2007, 12:36 AM

I know that I need Toast, but have heard that Toast does and does not work. I don't want to make the Toast purchase if this will not work. The ultimate goal is to get the shows to my iPod.

I have v9.2 on my Tivo HD and recently bought Popcorn, instead of Toast for $50 (both from Roxio, but cheaper). I was experiencing the same issues as you've seen for Toast, but Roxio has released a beta for the Popcorn that appears to fix all issues that I had and it works great! On the Roxio site, it states that the fix is beta because they're still working on the Leopard fixes, but that the beta should work on Leopard. I'm running Tiger, so I can't attest to that.

Here is a link to the info on the Popcorn fix:

http://forums.support.roxio.com/index.php?showtopic=30179

wilfried

11-05-2007, 01:18 AM

If you play the downloaded file using Quicktime, there will be no audio. VLC media player should work, though.
I had tried it in VLC too and there was no sound. I even tried to convert the file with Visual hub and still no sound :(

ALK3011

11-05-2007, 07:38 AM

It seems from all the reading i have done that those running TiVO software 9.2 are having luck and everyone else is not.

fatespawn

11-05-2007, 08:29 AM

tivodecode manager sometimes downloads shows, but many times it stops at 0.08% in, or some other unreasonably reproducible number.

Have you tried restarting the Tivo? That's what solved my problem with the .0xxx% downloads.

I'm running 9.1xx on OS 10.4.10 PowerPC

magnudoodle

11-05-2007, 09:34 AM

Have you tried restarting the Tivo? That's what solved my problem with the .0xxx% downloads.

I'm running 9.1xx on OS 10.4.10 PowerPC

Yes. It seems to let the first episode I try go down better, but then it gets screwy again. It never helps my "problem episodes". I have found that tuning the tuners to stations I don't get helps even more. I was able to finally get stargate atlantis down overnight last night. While I have pulled down one or two mp4 episodes (the first one was a glorious success) using tivodecode, the mp2 seems to work better overall (although it's not perfect).

I think I heard someone say that the problem with tivodecode manager is that if it temporarily loses the packet stream it can't resume the download. If this is what is happening that would be unfortunate. It does not explain stopping at the identical point in the download every time. This is a pure hypothesis but perhaps there is some "difficulty" accessing my "problem episodes" on disk and it causes a temporary bubble in the fifo (or whatever) which is sending out the packet stream. The tivodecode manager views this as a loss of connection and starts over? Of course, if that's the case I don't know what I can do to fix it :)

RossoNeri

11-05-2007, 09:39 AM

I've since upgraded to 9.2j but I had the TDM/Visual Hub combination working under 9.1, too. Didn't do anything special.

Running:
10.4.10 on my Santa Rosa MBP
Latest versions of TDM and VH

RossoNeri

11-05-2007, 09:41 AM

Chimpware: are you running across a wired network? I'm running 802.11g connection and seeing times you suggested (about 3 hours for 4-5 Gigs). Is the wired network significantly faster?

magnudoodle

11-05-2007, 09:43 AM

I've since upgraded to 9.2j but I had the TDM/Visual Hub combination working under 9.1, too. Didn't do anything special.

Running:
10.4.10 on my Santa Rosa MBP
Latest versions of TDM and VH

Weird. I'm wondering, of the people who have had good success:

Are you on wireless or wired network?
how many episodes have you pulled down?
what is your failure rate for download (if any)?
are you using the TDM queue feature or downloading individually?

btw- I have noticed a tdm bug where if you scroll through the shows while downloading a show it'll totally hang! have you seen that?

bpmarkowitz

11-05-2007, 11:09 AM

does toast let me export files in HD?

RossoNeri

11-05-2007, 11:20 AM

Wireless, Linksys WRT-54GS base station, Tivo adapter and built-ion AirPort Extreme card.
About half a dozen, some HD some SD
None
usually use TDM "Add to Queue" and download from there. I think I used the direct DL once but cannot remember if I let it complete or had to cancel it.

hearncl

11-05-2007, 12:12 PM

tivodecode manager sometimes downloads shows, but many times it stops at 0.08% in, or some other unreasonably reproducible number. It depends on the show, but there's not a pattern as far as I can tell. Not the quality of recording, hd or not, length, anything like that. I have managed to get a half hour and a one hour non-hd recording off, but I have about a 15% success rate and the tivodecode manager has to try about four times before it finally gets it down.
It's been reported that TDM MPEG-4 import options don't work, at least for HD files. I see something like you mention when I try MPEG-4 import, but MPEG-2 import still works for me. I haven't tried importing SD programs.

I had tried it in VLC too and there was no sound. I even tried to convert the file with Visual hub and still no sound
My downloaded files play with both video and audio in VLC, but with video only in QuickTime. I have the Apple MPEG-2 plug-in, but this download page (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=1A4D9E81&fnode=home/shop_mac/software&nplm=D2187Z/A) says that the QuickTime MPEG-2 plug-in doesn't support audio in files with AC3 (Dolby Digital) audio.

Are you on wireless or wired network?
how many episodes have you pulled down?
what is your failure rate for download (if any)?
are you using the TDM queue feature or downloading individually?
I am on a wired network. My Mac is an Intel Mac Pro, but I've also had success with a G4 PowerBook.

I've only downloaded a couple of programs since installing Leopard. As a test, I just downloaded an episode of Heroes from my S3. The download took about 1.5 hours. It shows the video only in QuickTime, but plays normally in VLC. It plays, and can be edited, in MPEG Streamclip with the MPEG-2 plug-in.

So far, I haven't had any failures when using he TDM MPEG-2 import preset.

I haven't tried the queue feature in TDM.

fatespawn

11-05-2007, 12:14 PM

Weird. I'm wondering, of the people who have had good success:

Are you on wireless or wired network?
how many episodes have you pulled down?
what is your failure rate for download (if any)?
are you using the TDM queue feature or downloading individually?

btw- I have noticed a tdm bug where if you scroll through the shows while downloading a show it'll totally hang! have you seen that?

Wireless
a number of HD/SD OTA broadcasts
0
individually.

I'm queuing up 3 programs (1 HD and 2SD) and am trying to see if I get a failure.

Re the scrolling bug you mention, I don't see it, but the "list" does scroll choppily while downloading... I wonder if thats because it's getting a live feed from the Tivo which is BUSILY pumping out the videos?

-fate

btwyx

11-05-2007, 01:45 PM

I think I've only transferred programs using Safari I haven't actually bothered with the Roxio stuff much as the machine I have at home (PowerBook G4) is too slow to bother doing conversions to iPod with, so I take them to work where I have much more powerful machines (Quad core Mac pro).

The depressing thing is that Windows is much quicker transcoding the files for the iPod, it seems to use the multiple cores in the machine, where as the Mac version doesn't. So I've been using Windows to do the conversion, I bought the + software from TiVo. The conversion's still running on a Quad core Mac pro, it just happens to be running Windows.

I've had no problem with the downloads with Safari, wired or wireless, or even over the internet at a distance. (Where the limitation is the upload speed of my DSL at 500mb/s.)

TiVoter123

11-05-2007, 02:31 PM

I have found the most reliable method to be to do a HTTPS download via web browser. Then I use iSquint to convert to iPod/iPhone format. There is a missing step in there that TDM automatically takes care of for you, but with the HTTPS/iSquint method you have to do manually... just don't think I'm allowed to talk about it here.

fatespawn

11-05-2007, 03:05 PM

The depressing thing is that Windows is much quicker transcoding the files for the iPod, it seems to use the multiple cores in the machine, where as the Mac version doesn't.

Not all programs are created equally.

Try taking your mpeg-2 file and try ffmpegx as your converter of choice. For example, QT's h264 encoding is PAINFULLY slow when I try to export an iMovie in h264. It's faster for me to export to .DV, drop the .DV file into ffmpegx, and let ffmpegx do the transcoding. Pretty lame.

If you REALLY want to eek out every last ounce of conversion power from ffmpegx, see this link for an optimized h264 binary.

http://forum.videohelp.com/topic319923.html?highlight=philg5

It works for BOTH G5 and Intel processors but NOT G4 and earlier processors.

Enjoy.

-fate

fatespawn

11-05-2007, 03:43 PM

Well,

I tried downloading via the que in TDM and had some disturbing results. The first 2 SD videos I requested did find, but the 3rd, HD video (720p), yielded some choppy audio at different intervals. I thought I must be getting lucky. Guess I spoke too soon.

I'll have to try the download again tonight via a single file to see if there's a difference in the .mpg's

-fate

puckettcg

11-05-2007, 03:44 PM

I've been trolling the boards looking for an answer to the exact same question posted in this message. I just bought an iMac a month ago. I previously had a PC - and transferring shows from my Tivo S2 to my PC to a portable video player worked effortlessly. I didn't have to know formats, I didn't have to download additional software beyond what you can download from the Tivo site. It just worked. Now, I can't even get anything to transfer from my S2 to my iMac.

Can someone explain if it can be done and how to do this, in English? What do I need and where do I get it. And if the answer is it will work if I do a bunch of techy stuff, then essentially that means it doesn't work for the average consumer. Like someone posted above, I don't want to purchase Toast to find out it doesn't work or works inconsistently. Went down that road with that other software Tivo required to burn to a DVD (I think it was another Roxio software) - after hours of transcoding it just hung. I never got a single show to burn completely, until someone on this board suggested I download a free software that stripped off the copy-protection which then allowed me to burn using any burn software. I don't even care about burning anymore, its a storage capacity thing for me because its much easier to upgrade capacity on a computer than the Tivo.

Thanks (and I don't know what MPEG or h264 means)

hearncl

11-05-2007, 04:34 PM

Can someone explain if it can be done and how to do this, in English? What do I need and where do I get it. And if the answer is it will work if I do a bunch of techy stuff, then essentially that means it doesn't work for the average consumer.
This link (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=371298&page=5&pp=30) shows the method I use to download a HD program and burn it to DVD (scroll down to message #125). There are other methods, some probably better or faster, and more or less "techy".

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a method yet for the Mac that doesn't require a little experimentation or study.

dnorth12

11-05-2007, 04:39 PM

If you want a simple 50 dollar option then purchase popcorn from roxio.

Once installed make sure you restart your tivo(s) if you can't see them.

Not necessarily the fastest, but it has been reliable for me. Have not had any problems with it.

bkdtv

11-05-2007, 04:43 PM

I've been trolling the boards looking for an answer to the exact same question posted in this message. I just bought an iMac a month ago. I previously had a PC - and transferring shows from my Tivo S2 to my PC to a portable video player worked effortlessly. I didn't have to know formats, I didn't have to download additional software beyond what you can download from the Tivo site. It just worked. Now, I can't even get anything to transfer from my S2 to my iMac.With a PC running Windows, Tivo Desktop could download and transfer shows. Tivo Desktop Plus for Windows would also convert shows for your portable video player.

Tivo Desktop for the Mac does not do that. For that, you need a different program.

Download Tivo Decode Manager v2.1 (http://tdm.sourceforge.net/downloads.html) (free). That will let you download shows to your Mac. Once you've downloaded the shows, I would recommend VisualHub (http://www.techspansion.com/visualhub/) (free to try, $23 to buy) to save them to H.264 format for your video player. As an added bonus, VisualHub will let you create DVDs with Tivo recordings.

Another alternative to the above programs is Roxio Popcorn ($50). I believe it can replace the above two programs, but it is also more limited it what can do (which may or may not be a bad thing, depending on your perspective). I would try the above two programs first, and if you find that too confusing, then spend the money for Popcorn.

Thanks (and I don't know what MPEG or h264 means)Those are just video file formats. The recordings transferred from the Tivo are in MPG format. The iPod -- and most newer players -- accept H.264 files. The benefit of H.264 files is that they consume significantly less space, so you can fit more videos on your portable video player.

RossoNeri

11-06-2007, 01:06 PM

fate: VisualHub and iSquint (free, less feature version of VH, I think) both use ffmpeg as the encoding engine (that's what actually shows up in the process list :) ). I've never used ffmpegx so I cannot compare but I've never had any issues using VisualHub

kwm94040

11-06-2007, 01:23 PM

This shows the method I use to download a HD program and burn it to DVD (scroll down to message #125). There are other methods, some probably better or faster, and more or less "techy".

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be a method yet for the Mac that doesn't require a little experimentation or study.

Hi hearncl,

Does your method burn HD quality video to DVDs (DVD-Rs) for playback on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players, or does it burn HD video to DVDs for playback on ordinary DVD players?

I am looking for a way to do the former on a Mac. I have seen the FAQ about doing this on Widows using Nero, but no one has provided information about burning HD quality video to DVDs for playback on Blu-Ray players.

I do not mind paying for an app that will do this. I have seen posts about toast possibly being able to do this, but no one has actually stated if this is, in fact, possible with toast and before I buy it I want to know for sure.

Thanks!

bkdtv

11-06-2007, 01:46 PM

Hi hearncl,

Does your method burn HD quality video to DVDs (DVD-Rs) for playback on Blu-Ray or HD-DVD players, or does it burn HD video to DVDs for playback on ordinary DVD players?It does not.

Hopefully, if enough people request this feature of the VisualHub author, he will add it to his program. Tell the program author (via their forums (http://www.isquint.org/cgi-bin/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=11;t=3751) or email (mailto:techspansion@mac.com)) you would like to see HD-DVD and AVCHD (for Blu-ray) disk authoring added in the next version.

As soon as I learn of a program that can do this on the Mac, I will add instructions to the following thread:

Creating HD-DVDs and Blu-ray disks with TivoToGo using DVD media... (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=371324)

montz

11-06-2007, 01:59 PM

I have been getting videos off the TiVo onto a Mac via TiVoDecode Manager, but when I use VisualHub to get them into an mp4 (H.264), the audio always gets out of sync because a slight blip in the OTA signal messes it up. It will be perfect until the first blip, and then it is off. Is there any way to fix this? I've tried all kinds of options on VisualHub, including passthrough on the audio. For some reason I can't get the MPEGs to any other file type without messing up the audio sync. Can anyone help?

dig_duggler

11-07-2007, 09:25 AM

Hmm, slightly different problem here. Used TDM with Leopard and 9.2. Nice and fast. However, the audio goes in and out on the transfer. Not necessarily out of sync, but more like someone is turning the volume knob from high to low every 2 seconds. Anyone else encounter something similar?

Edit: Did an SD program and it was fine. However an episode of Austin City Limits on PBS HD, the aforementioned issue.

Drewbert

11-07-2007, 05:06 PM

I have a S3 and my first conversion stopped as it said i didnt have enough space...?
Now it wont even start here is the message

mkfifo: /Users/Drew/.TiVoDLPipe: No space left on device (1)

Changed it from DL to the desktop to a folder, and still nothing. Anyone else ever get that?
FWIW Im using a intel 1.66 mini

Drew

fatespawn

11-07-2007, 05:17 PM

How many gigs do you have remaining on your Mini?

Drewbert

11-07-2007, 05:26 PM

How many gigs do you have remaining on your Mini?

I just checked this.... I hardly have anything on here, it is a back up to my powerbook. But it says that I have no room.... I cannot save an image.... so now I have more of a serious problem.....

Fixed...... apparently the torrent I was DL was 40gb.... oops

Drewbert

11-07-2007, 07:21 PM

Ok Im using TDM.... and its frustrating me.
It tries to DL the program but gets to about 90% and then starts over, I watched it to see what was going on....

Any ideas?

Drew

wilfried

11-19-2007, 07:49 PM

My downloaded files play with both video and audio in VLC, but with video only in QuickTime. I have the Apple MPEG-2 plug-in, but this download page (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?mco=1A4D9E81&fnode=home/shop_mac/software&nplm=D2187Z/A) says that the QuickTime MPEG-2 plug-in doesn't support audio in files with AC3 (Dolby Digital) audio.

Is there a CODEC available for QT that will let us use QT for playback ?

Chimpware

11-20-2007, 05:41 AM

Is there a CODEC available for QT that will let us use QT for playback ?

Not that I have found. This claims to give AC3 playback, but I have it installed and it does not work for me:

http://trac.cod3r.com/a52codec

Graymalkin

11-20-2007, 06:45 AM

Toast has released an update (8.0.3) so that some of the problems with HD content have been fixed. I'm using Leopard (10.5.1) and am able to transfer HD stuff from TiVo to my iMac. I haven't tried burning any programs to a DVD yet, so that could still be a sticking point.

Televisionary

11-20-2007, 10:12 AM

When I tried TiVoDecode the result file had no sound.... Exporting from Toast works fine.... Any idea why ?

I just experienced the same thing. The technical reason for the lack of audio playback is the video and audio are multiplexed, or interspersed in pieces throughout the file.

One good bit of news is, I took the resulting .mpg file and uploaded it to my S3 and it played perfectly! Cool.

Check out MPEG StreamClip, a freeware Mac app that can convert multiplexed (aka "muxed") files to de-muxed files. http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/24055

Televisionary

11-20-2007, 10:27 AM

Not that I have found. This claims to give AC3 playback, but I have it installed and it does not work for me:

http://trac.cod3r.com/a52codec

I just read about this yesterday, in this cocoaforge thread (http://forums.cocoaforge.com/viewtopic.php?t=14591). The codec expects the player app to set a few properties in its .plist file which will enable AC3 playback. It's possible for users to modify the .plist file, but not encouraged.

jimbob9999

12-10-2007, 04:13 PM

Ok Im using TDM.... and its frustrating me.
It tries to DL the program but gets to about 90% and then starts over, I watched it to see what was going on....

Any ideas?

Drew

Just a quick bump to say that I'm experiencing the same thing - I think it's more like it does a full download, but then goes into a loop and starts the download over (and over) again.... Help!

purduerph92

12-15-2007, 12:37 AM

I had the same problem with TDM restarting over and over again, especially when trying to download an HD show. I then tried it on an SD show, and noticed it restarted itself once then completed the download. So, I let TDM try it again and walked away. It took at least an hour to download a 1/2 HD show after a few restarts. My best advise is to be patient, walk away from the computer for an hour or so and let the program work itself out.