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View Full Version : Can't sync TiVo files to Windows Mobile 6.1


shelbysmom
02-27-2009, 01:43 AM
I have spent so many hours on this trying to find solutions - I'm at my wit's end. I hope someone can help.

I have a Vista Home Premium PC running TiVo Desktop Plus (I bought the Plus key to see if that would help, but didn't) and Windows Media Player 11, and I'm trying to sync videos to the internal storage (8 GB "My Storage") on a Samsung Omnia with Windows Mobile 6.1. I can see and play the videos in WMP (with some juggling, see second issue below), but when I try to sync them to my device all I get is an error - "Windows Media Player cannot convert the file to the format required by the device". According to anywhere I look in TiVo or WMP documentation, this is just supposed to work. It just doesn't.

I called TiVo support, and the only suggestion that was made was to use TiVo Desktop to convert a video to MPEG-4 & try that. However, once the file was converted (took a while), I found that WMP doesn't even recognize mp4 files, and it doesn't look like my Windows Mobile device would be able to play them anyway. I'd like to try re-installing WMP, but of course that can't be done (WMP 11 was part of the system from the get go, & is too integrated into the OS).

I really can't imagine that I would have to buy and run some 3rd-party converter, copy files over to my WM device manually, etc., which is the only advice I've seen anywhere. THIS IS JUST SUPPOSED TO WORK, right??

Second problem: I have WMP set up to monitor my TiVo recordings folder so that (supposedly) when I download shows from my TiVo to my PC they show up in my WMP library. That doesn't happen either. The only thing I've found that works, and not always, is to move the files to another directory, then copy them back into my TiVo recordings folder - then sometimes they show up in WMP.

If anyone out there has solutions that will actually work (without jumping through hoops for each file I want to copy over), PLEASE let me know.

Thanks!

ggieseke
02-27-2009, 05:52 AM
I use Desktop Plus to convert .TiVo files to MPEG-4, then just copy them to my WM6 phone manually with ActiveSync. To speed things up you can temporarily crank up the priority of the conversion process using the Performance tab of the TiVo Server Properties dialog.

I have never had any luck using WMP to sync media files of any kind to my phone, so I quit trying. You could try using TivoDecode to decrypt the .TiVo files back into straight MPEG-2 to see if it helps, but no promises.

BTW: Since you have a Plus key you have the necessary codecs for WMP to play MP4 files, you probably just need to set the file associations.

VooDooV
02-27-2009, 09:51 AM
I use pocket dvd and convert it to an avi file then use core player or tcpmp for playback. It doesn't take long to convert and the file is a lot smaller.

shelbysmom
02-27-2009, 11:43 AM
I should add that I have no problem synchronizing .wmv files to my Omnia using WMP. It just doesn't seem to like TiVo files.