TTG on WHS? Revived Topic!

[jmpage2]

Are any forum members successfully running the current version of TTG on WHS? I'm primarily interested in being able to run TTG on the WHS completely automated so that I can use the Tivo-Go-Back functions of the software to archive/recover programs from my Tivo-HD.

If so I would love to hear install/config tips for how to get this working reliabily on WHS.

There is a Tivo add-on for the WHS operating system but unfortunately it doesn't offer Tivo Go Back functionality for archiving programs.

[wombat94]

I'm not running Tivo Desktop or the WHS add-in, but I am effectively doing what you are looking for all contained on my WHS box.

I am using the tool Kevin published in this thread, kmttg

link (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=387725)

to automate my download/decrypt of series from my TivoHD to my WHS.

The final resulting file gets deposited in a share defined to pyTivo for serving back to the Tivos in the house.

Both of these processes are successfully running as services now on my WHS.

It's not as easy as a nice add-in, but it works VERY well. If you are adventurous enough, it will do what you are looking for better than anything else I've found so far.

[jmpage2]

That looks interesting. Did you have to install Perl and other tools in WHS to get this to work?

When it downloads a show does it automatically remove it from the Tivo to free up space?

Thanks!

//edit, so it looks like this actually can't be used to then later watch one of the programs on the Tivo? You have to use more software to accomplish this? I am really just looking for a summary of what I would need to do to get this to work, so I don't have to read through the entire thread, but I will try to skim it later today if I have time.

Thanks again.

[wombat94]

kmttg handles the download. I don't believe that it will remove the downloaded file from the Tivo, but then again, Tivo Desktop doesn't do that either as far as I know.

I just leave my season passes that I want to download set to auto delete - by the time they are ready to be deleted, kmttg has already grabbed them and the Tivo can delete them as necessary.

The software to serve them back to the Tivo is called pyTivo - do a search for pyTivo here and you'll find all that you need.

The two of these applications together will do what you want on WHS and they work very well together.

It takes some reading, tinkering and experimenting, but it works.

[jmpage2]

OK, thanks for helping I will check it out. When I was using Tivo Desktop it would actually delete the programs that were set up to archive to the desktop PC.

[gonzotek]

OK, thanks for helping I will check it out. When I was using Tivo Desktop it would actually delete the programs that were set up to archive to the desktop PC.No, TiVo Desktop doesn't delete anything off the TiVo. There's no provision for that functionality in the protocol Tivo Desktop uses to communicate with a TiVo. This applies to all TTG software. Your TiVo may have been automatically deleting the programs as it needed the space and thus it may have appeared they were being deleted by TD.

[jmpage2]

Thanks for the clarification. pyTivo looks involved so I'll have to make sure that loading it on my WHS won't blow anything up.

[jmpage2]

Can anyone tell me if there's a way to install FFMPEG (which pyTivo says it needs) without installing mplayer? I'm really looking to keep the clutter on my WHS box to a minimum.

Also, is there a way to check which perl version I have? I am running Squeeze Center which I believe has both SQL and Perl.

[gonzotek]

Can anyone tell me if there's a way to install FFMPEG (which pyTivo says it needs) without installing mplayer? I'm really looking to keep the clutter on my WHS box to a minimum.

Also, is there a way to check which perl version I have? I am running Squeeze Center which I believe has both SQL and Perl.I'm not overly familiar with WHS, but assuming it can run normal windows binaries, then most of the pyTiVo versions (except those marked "clean" and "semi-clean" by wmcbrine, which are intended for other platforms then windows) will already have a version of ffmpeg compiled for windows. It should be located in the "/pytivo/plugins/video/" directory. You will need to make sure your pytivo.conf file has an entry for ffmpeg that points to this file on your system.

For perl, you can use the command line and just type:
perl -v


Just to be clear, perl isn't used by pyTivo. pyTivo is written in Python. Here are the Windows installation instructions for pyTiVo, including links to download Python.
http://pytivo.armooo.net/wiki/WindowsInstall

[jmpage2]

I'm not overly familiar with WHS, but assuming it can run normal windows binaries, then most of the pyTiVo versions (except those marked "clean" and "semi-clean" by wmcbrine, which are intended for other platforms then windows) will already have a version of ffmpeg compiled for windows. It should be located in the "/pytivo/plugins/video/" directory. You will need to make sure your pytivo.conf file has an entry for ffmpeg that points to this file on your system.

For perl, you can use the command line and just type:
perl -v


Just to be clear, perl isn't used by pyTivo. pyTivo is written in Python. Here are the Windows installation instructions for pyTiVo, including links to download Python.
http://pytivo.armooo.net/wiki/WindowsInstall

Thanks very much, from the pyTivo home page it seemed as though it required the installation of several different libraries or executables to make pyTivo work.

And, my mistake on confusing Perl and Python for pyTivo.

I will try to do this tonight and see if I can get it to work.

[lrhorer]

It's not as easy as a nice add-in, but it works VERY well. If you are adventurous enough, it will do what you are looking for better than anything else I've found so far.
Galleon also does an excellent job of automating TTG transfers, and it is the only application of which I know that can initiate TTG transfers from the TiVo. Indeed, it does not have to be the TiVo hosting the program, it can be any TiVo in the house.

[lrhorer]

pyTivo looks involved so I'll have to make sure that loading it on my WHS won't blow anything up.
It isn't really very involved, and it shouldn't blow anything up.

[lrhorer]

Can anyone tell me if there's a way to install FFMPEG (which pyTivo says it needs) without installing mplayer?
It only requires ffmpeg if the file beingt ransferred needs to be transcoded. If the file originally came from a TiVo, or isa standard MPEG-II file, then transcoding is not necessary, and neither is ffmpeg.

You also might try monkeyj's tivostream (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=403066) program. It doesn't transcode.

[jmpage2]

OK, I think I've got kmttg & pytivo going I have created auto scheduled jobs and it is downloading those programs from my TiVo. I see my "my videos" folder from pytivo showing up on my Tivo HD.

Just a couple of more questions and then I promise to bugger off.

1. Can I control the time of day when the script runs to go out and collect my recordings? There is a timer but I don't see a scheduler, I'd prefer that it was collecting shows early in the morning when the network is idle.

2. Is there a large size benefit of converting the .tivo files to .mpg? Can it handle HD programs?

3. How accurate is the commercial skip feature? I wouldn't want to inadvertently have it clipping huge sections out of shows.

Thanks again to everyone for their help, this looks like a pretty cool way of getting this TTG functionality with WHS! :)

[lrhorer]

1. Can I control the time of day when the script runs to go out and collect my recordings? There is a timer but I don't see a scheduler, I'd prefer that it was collecting shows early in the morning when the network is idle.
'Not to my knowledge. Why does it matter?

2. Is there a large size benefit of converting the .tivo files to .mpg?
No, the sizes will be almost identical. Most PC based players or DVD burning software won' handle .TiVo files, however.

Can it handle HD programs?
Yes.

[Rdian06]

1. Can I control the time of day when the script runs to go out and collect my recordings? There is a timer but I don't see a scheduler, I'd prefer that it was collecting shows early in the morning when the network is idle.


Transferring video between Tivo's ala MRV runs pretty quickly because the Tivo ships over it's native file format. However, transferring video from Tivo to a computer requires that the Tivo encrypt the file for decoding with your Media Access Key. This kills the performance of the transfer. On my gigabit wired network, my Tivo S3 to PC transfer rate is normally about 1.8MBps (Megabytes per second) = 14.4 Mbps (Megabits per second). On a switched wired 100Mbps network, you shouldn't notice the bandwidth usage unless you're doing some massive file transfers to the same machine from another very speedy machine.

[jmpage2]

Thanks to both for the extra information!