Big files not transferring from Mac to TiVo

[jpaul34]

Apologies if this was already covered elsewhere... I searched but could not find anything relating to my specific problem.

I have a Mac Mini OS X 10.5.7, running TiVo Desktop 1.94 (055) and have a TiVo HD. I am having trouble transferring big files (mpeg, 4-5 GB) from the Mac to the TiVo. I'll set it up to transfer and then it will work for a while and then stop -- the file never makes it over to the TiVo.

I read elsewhere that a hard reset might fix this problem, and I am able to transfer big files after a reset, but I'm wondering if there's a way to solve this problem without unplugging the TiVo every time I want to transfer a file.

Also, I also tried to transfer "Casino Royal" (10 GB) and it never worked, even after a reset. I had to rip a DVD and watch it that way. Smaller files (< 2 GB) transfer without a hitch.

Thanks in advance for the help.

[Yoav]

This might be an issue with your home network. I certainly haven't had problems transferring large files from a tivo series 3 to a mac..

One thing to try is to log in to your tivo at
https://(tivoip)/

(note the httpS -- the S is important). the username it will want is "tivo" and the password is your media access key. Try transferring from the tivo that way, so you can see what's going on. It may also help you rule out the tivo vs tivo desktop.

It may be your tivo trying to get a new IP address while the transfer is ongoing.. Make sure your home network always gives it the same IP address.

If you think it's tivo desktop's fault, try using iTiVo (http://itivo.googlecode.com) or kmttg (http://kmttg.googlecode.com) instead.

[jpaul34]

Thanks, but just to be clear -- I'm having trouble transferring from the Mac to the TiVo, not the other way around.

The "Casino Royale" recording transferred from the TiVo to the Mac just fine, but I was unable to get it back onto the TiVo a few months later.

does (tivoip) represent the TiVo's IP address? when I click on that link it gives me a connection error.

[Yoav]

wow.. I must be smoking some GOOD stuff :)
sorry.. then in that case, DEFINITELY drop tivo desktop and use pyTivoX (http://pytivox.googlecode.com). tivo desktop for pushing to the mac has been causing no end of headaches for people :)

and yes tivoip is the IP address of the tivo (but my previous post should be ignored as I totally misunderstood what you were talking about)

[jpaul34]

I am pretty sure I set this up with a static IP, and when I type that in with the "https" I get the following error from Firefox:

192.168.15.100 uses an invalid security certificate.

The certificate is not trusted because it is self signed.
The certificate is only valid for 652-0001-8040-CE7E

(Error code: sec_error_ca_cert_invalid)

so I went through the exception process and was able to see the program list on my TiVo. But since I'm trying to transfer big files TO the TiVo, I don't think this helps me.

[Yoav]

so I went through the exception process and was able to see the program list on my TiVo. But since I'm trying to transfer big files TO the TiVo, I don't think this helps me.

It does not help you (as I said.. ignore that reply). The latter suggestion (to use pyTivoX) will let you get around tivodesktop's transfer FROM mac TO tivo...

[jpaul34]

Yeah I wrote that response before I saw your last post.

I installed PyTiVo and everything seems to be working. (I can play .avi's now? Wow -- I've been having to use Visual Hub to convert to mpegs for the last few months.) I will try to transfer a big file over and see how it goes.

Thanks!

[jpaul34]

Uh-oh...

I tried to transfer two files -- a 683 MB avi and a 4.22 GB mpeg -- and neither transferred successfully. The 683 MB file stopped at the 32-minute mark (it's one hour long) and the large file stopped at the 3-minute mark. I tried the large file again, and it stopped at the same point.

[Yoav]

Uh-oh...

I tried to transfer two files -- a 683 MB avi and a 4.22 GB mpeg -- and neither transferred successfully. The 683 MB file stopped at the 32-minute mark (it's one hour long) and the large file stopped at the 3-minute mark. I tried the large file again, and it stopped at the same point.

Hmm.. the fact that it's happening at the same point certainly seems interesting (it suggests there's something at the 3 minute mark causing this)... the hard drive on your tivo isn't full is it?

[jpaul34]

No, it's not full.

I rebooted the TiVo and tried the transfer again and it's looking like it's working. (It's well past the 3-minute mark.) I'll let you know if it stops working since the point of my thread was to avoid having to do that hard reset. Maybe it's something network related, though I don't know what it could be.

[Yoav]

No, it's not full.

I rebooted the TiVo and tried the transfer again and it's looking like it's working. (It's well past the 3-minute mark.) I'll let you know if it stops working since the point of my thread was to avoid having to do that hard reset. Maybe it's something network related, though I don't know what it could be.

If it does fail again, can you attach the contents of <user>/Logs/pyTivoX/pytivo.log maybe there's something useful in there.

Also, if it still keeps happening, you may want to try streaming instead (check under Photos/Music/Showcases instead of Now Playing). Note that this will work for most files, but not .tivo files (if you have those).

[jpaul34]

Okay, I tried a 3.35 GB file and both times it stopped transferring near the end, but not at the same point.

I'd like to attach that log file for you, but I can't find it. My <user> doesn't have a log folder and when I search for that file name, nothing comes up. Is it hidden?

The only things that come up when I search for pytivo is the application and the original disk image that I downloaded.

Suggestions?

[Yoav]

Okay, I tried a 3.35 GB file and both times it stopped transferring near the end, but not at the same point.

I'd like to attach that log file for you, but I can't find it. My <user> doesn't have a log folder and when I search for that file name, nothing comes up. Is it hidden?

The only things that come up when I search for pytivo is the application and the original disk image that I downloaded.

Suggestions?

I shouldn't be allowed to type when tired..
it's <user>/Library/Logs/pyTivoX/pytivo.log

( note the library that I totally forgot).

[jpaul34]

I saved the .log file to a textedit file and both are 600 kb, too big to attach. what do you recommend? is there a certain section that you're looking for?

I've attached the excerpt for what I think is the log text for the last two failed transfers...

look for "unknown.mpg" -- that's the movie I'm trying to transfer.

[Yoav]

well I'm fairly certain the following chunk is the cause:

INFO:pyTivo:192.168.15.100 [06/Jun/2009 09:14:40] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
INFO:pyTivo:192.168.15.100 [06/Jun/2009 09:34:01] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
INFO:pyTivo:192.168.15.100 [06/Jun/2009 09:34:10] "GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0" 200 -
INFO:pyTivo.video.transcode:(32, 'Broken pipe')
DEBUG:pyTivo.video.transcode:Finished outputing video
INFO:pyTivo:192.168.15.100 [06/Jun/2009 09:44:02] "GET /Recordings/Unknown.mpg HTTP/1.1" 206 -


but all we really know is that for some reason pytivo is trying to write to the tivo and the tivo has abnormally closed the connection. Which I think we already knew :(

Is there something going on in your home network that might be opening up more connection to the tivo? (perhaps some background downloader or somesuch?). I've never seen this behavior before and not really sure what would cause it.

Are you maybe using a wireless network which is randomly but rarely losing connection?

[jpaul34]

Nothing should be connecting to the Tivo other than pyTivo. I have TiVo Desktop on the Mac but it's not running, and I was having the same problems with it when I was using it to transfer big files. This usually happens an hour or more into the download. (i.e. more than an hour of the program has already transferred.) Again, it seems to work after a hard reset, but not if the TiVo has been running for a while.

The TiVo HD is connected to my network via a wired connection. Can you tell from the code whether or not it could be a router problem? I am using a Linksys router from Vonage.

[Yoav]

The TiVo HD is connected to my network via a wired connection. Can you tell from the code whether or not it could be a router problem? I am using a Linksys router from Vonage.


The error message seems to indicate that pytivo thinks the tivo is still there, tries to write to it, and fails, so aborts.

I *seriously* doubt it's the router since once both machines have an IP address inside your home network, the only thing the router does is switching packets around to deliver them. Unless it's doing some sort of bizarre firewalling inside your network or has some odd bug, it's more likely to be the tivo.

Is your tivo acting up in any other way too, or is this the only strangeness? Is the tivo updated to the latest software?

Hoping someone else might have an idea here, but I think for now your best bet is to use streambaby instead (go to photos, music, showcases) and see if you can stream the show to watch it instead of downloading to the tivo.

[jpaul34]

The same problem was happening when I used TiVo Desktop, so you're right, it's probably something to do with the TiVo. Otherwise, it has been running fine. Plus, it will transfer a big file after a hard reset, so something is happening when it runs for a while that is keeping it from working later on.

The software version is 11.0c-01-2-652, and it's been connecting fine, so I assume it's up to date.

I will try using streambaby instead and see how that goes. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.

Thanks for your help, Yoav. I do like this pyTiVo software, so this was definitely worthwhile.

[jpaul34]

I tried streaming The Dark Knight (6.78 GB mpeg) and it wasn't able to stream the media. I then tried to stream Seven Pounds and after it started, I left for a walk with my wife. When we returned, the TiVo was on live TV, so the stream must have failed.

I attached an excerpt of StreamBaby log in the hopes that you (or someone) could help diagnose the problem -- maybe it's the same problem keeping the transfers from completing. I tried The Dark Knight twice and then tried Seven Pounds and left...I tried it again when we got back, but my wife ended the stream because she wanted to watch TV.

[Yoav]

Well, this is the error part:

Sun 2009/06/07 12:30:15.824| |Acceptor|Factory|HME receiver disconnected
Sun 2009/06/07 12:30:15.825| |Acceptor|Listener|ctx=HttpRequest /streambaby/ t=java.net.SocketException: Socket closed


It's the same problem as with downloading: For some reason the tivo closes the connection after a while. If you can get your hands on another switch/router so you can for sure rule out the router, then I think there's "something wrong" with your tivo. This is definitely not normal behavior.

There is no other computer on your home network that is also trying to use the same IP address as the tivo is there?

[jpaul34]

I can doublecheck the laptop we have, but I set up the Tivo on a different static IP address yesterday and I'm still having the same problem.

[Yoav]

I can doublecheck the laptop we have, but I set up the Tivo on a different static IP address yesterday and I'm still having the same problem.

Honestly I'm out of ideas then. My gut instinct tells me something is up with your actual tivo, and if I knew of a proper way to cleanly reset and re-install the tivo software I would (I don't know of a way).

When you try transfers the other way (from the tivo to your mac) do very large files transfer fine?

[bedelman]

I *seriously* doubt it's the router since once both machines have an IP address inside your home network, the only thing the router does is switching packets around to deliver them. Unless it's doing some sort of bizarre firewalling inside your network or has some odd bug, it's more likely to be the tivo.

I've seen cases where routers will drop the connection momentarily. Although I haven't usually seen this with Linksys routers (Netgear routers were where this usually showed up)

Would it be possible to connect the Mac Mini using a wired connection (or is it already using one)?

[jpaul34]

Yoav - A while ago, I transferred an HD recording of "Casino Royale" from the Tivo to the Mac Mini and had no problems, so it seems like the problem only happens when I try to transfer from the computer to the Tivo. (Thanks for all of your help, by the way.)

bedelman - the mac mini and tivo are both wired connections to the Vonage Linksys router. I also have a wireless D-link router, so I can try plugging them both in there and see if there is any improvement with these transfers.

[wmcbrine]

I've just patched pyTivo so it properly handles the "Range" header in requests from the TiVo. This allows it to resume interrupted transfers. Currently it only works for files that don't need to be transcoded, but that describes the MPEG files mentioned above.

[Yoav]

bedelman - the mac mini and tivo are both wired connections to the Vonage Linksys router. I also have a wireless D-link router, so I can try plugging them both in there and see if there is any improvement with these transfers.

Yeah, try out the d-link router. (though I really think it's the tivo, and not much to suggest other than trying to clean up the hard drive to make sure there's nothing like bad sectors or whatnot causing this).

I'm building the a new pyTivoX beta which includes the latest pytivo wmcbrine just wrote which adds support for 'resuming' a transfer. So while it doesn't "fix" the problem, it might be 'good enough' for you not to care anymore...

Just install the beta from the 'downloads' tab (or use pyTivoX... check for updates in the menubar if you already have the beta installed).

[jpaul34]

Oh yeah, if I could resume transfers that would probably be enough to get by. I just want to eliminate having to hard reset the tivo to get the transfer to work, and my last attempt to transfer The Dark Knight after a reset failed at the very end, so a resume function would be great. Would this resume happen automatically or will the user trigger it once they see that the transfer was only partially complete?

[Yoav]

Oh yeah, if I could resume transfers that would probably be enough to get by. I just want to eliminate having to hard reset the tivo to get the transfer to work, and my last attempt to transfer The Dark Knight after a reset failed at the very end, so a resume function would be great. Would this resume happen automatically or will the user trigger it once they see that the transfer was only partially complete?

I believe it's automatic... But I guess you can try and tell us :)

[wmcbrine]

Yeah, it's automatic.

Testing this was funny -- at first I tried pulling the network cable from the TiVo, but that didn't stop the transfer; it resumed without involving the new feature, as soon as I reconnected the cable. (Maybe if I waited longer...?) Ultimately I had to kill pyTivo and restart it to see the new resume support working.

I've never had an interrupted transfer myself IIRC, but I've been seeing a lot of reports of it lately for some reason. Of course, most are from wireless users, where I'd kind of expect that.

[jpaul34]

I started a Dark Knight transfer (6.78 GB mpeg) last night, and there's no sign of it on the Tivo this morning. This file also won't stream, so maybe there's something wrong with the file itself (though it plays fine on the Mac).

I will try another big file that failed before and see if this resume function works for it.

[jpaul34]

All right, so far I've tried three bigger files, and all three have transferred successfully. Do you guys need me to attach my pyTivo log to look at the results?

[BladeRnr]

I have found that there is an upper limit to the size of the file I can transfer to TiVo (Win XP, TiVoToGo 2.61)...

I had tried a ~3Gig downloaded movie file that failed almost immediately... changed my videoera conversion settings and got the file down to just over 2Gig, worked fine.

My thought was that the box has an upper file size limit - most likely a soft-/firmware limitation...

[jpaul34]

Okay, most everything is transferring correctly, but I'm having trouble with Bolt and The Dark Knight. Maybe you could take a look at the log and see what's up. I noticed that the run length is incorrect on the Tivo when i look at the file through PyTivoX.

Neither of these files will stream either, though they play fine on the computer. I successfully transferred Bolt over using Tivo Desktop (after a hard reset), but I wanted to try it with PyTivoX as well and it didn't work.

Log is attached, I had to trim a lot of Dark Knight stuff off the end to get the attachment size right.

[wmcbrine]

Log is attached, I had to trim a lot of Dark Knight stuff off the end to get the attachment size right.There's this thing called zip... Anyway, it's the same error for both, just repeated a number of times:


Input #0, mpeg, from '/Users/macuser/Documents/TiVo Recordings/The Dark Knight.mpg':
Duration: 01:17:54.45, start: 0.280633, bitrate: 12467 kb/s
Stream #0.0[0x1e0]: Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x480 [PAR 32:27 DAR 16:9], 9800 kb/s, 30k tbr, 90k tbn, 59.94 tbc
Stream #0.1[0x80]: Audio: ac3, 0 channels, s16
Stream #0.2[0x82]: Audio: ac3, 0 channels, s16
Stream #0.3[0x81]: Audio: ac3, 0 channels, s16
[ac3 @ 0x1805800]No channel layout specified. The encoder will guess the layout, but it might be incorrect.
[ac3 @ 0x1805800]invalid channel layout
Output #0, vob, to 'pipe:':
Stream #0.0: Video: mpeg2video, yuv420p, 720x480 [PAR 32:27 DAR 16:9], q=2-31, 9800 kb/s, 90k tbn, 29.97 tbc
Stream #0.1: Audio: ac3, 48000 Hz, 0 channels, s16, 448 kb/s
Stream mapping:
Stream #0.0 -> #0.0
Stream #0.1 -> #0.1
Error while opening codec for output stream #0.1 - maybe incorrect parameters such as bit_rate, rate, width


Seems pretty clear -- ffmpeg doesn't like the audio tracks. The reason it works with TiVo Desktop is that TiVo Desktop will just pass through anything that ends in ".mpg". pyTivo used to do that, too... but it's not the right thing. The right thing is to either get a build of ffmpeg that can read those tracks, or fix up the files into something that ffmpeg can read.

As a workaround, though, recent versions of pyTivo allow you to disable the use of ffmpeg altogether, which makes it revert to the old extension-based check, like TD. To do that, you'd remove (or comment out) the "ffmpeg" line in your pyTivo.conf, and make sure no "ffmpeg" binary was in the PATH.

Meanwhile, if you can point me to a copy of one of those problem files, I'd like to take a look at it. (I don't care about the size.)

[jpaul34]

Ah, it didn't occur to me to archive this. Brain fart.

I searched but couldn't find -- is there a walkthrough for finding the pytivo.conf file? I tried the apple support method, but it points to Sherlock, which I don't seem to have.

Also, I'm not sure how to get you one of these big video files. What's the best way? They are personal rips, so the only copy I know if is sitting on my hard drive.

[wmcbrine]

Just tell me what you used to rip it, and I'll see if I can duplicate it.

[Yoav]

I searched but couldn't find -- is there a walkthrough for finding the pytivo.conf file? I tried the apple support method, but it points to Sherlock, which I don't seem to have.


Your pytivo.conf file is in <user>/Library/Application Support/pyTivoX/

However, it is generally written out by pytivox (when you hit the apply button). So you *can* make changes to it, but if you do, never hit the 'apply' button or you will lose them.

[jpaul34]

Just tell me what you used to rip it, and I'll see if I can duplicate it.

mplayer

/Applications/MPlayer\ OSX.app/Contents/Resources/External_Binaries/mplayer.app/Contents/MacOS/mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile ~/Desktop/movie.mpg

[Yoav]

mplayer

/Applications/MPlayer\ OSX.app/Contents/Resources/External_Binaries/mplayer.app/Contents/MacOS/mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile ~/Desktop/movie.mpg

Not sure if it will help, but have you tried using "Mplayer OSX Extended"? It has a much newer build of mplayer inside it...

[jpaul34]

Maybe I need to give that a try.

I removed the ffmpeg line from the config file so that it looks like this:

# Created by pyTivoX, edits here WILL BE OVERWRITTEN

[Admin]
type=admin

[Server]
debug=True
tivo_username=tivo
tivo_password=xxxxxxxxxxxxx
beacon=192.168.15.255
[Recordings]
type=video
path=/Users/macuser/Documents/TiVo Recordings


and tried to transfer Bolt and The Dark Knight. Both failed. The log is attached -- everything should be at the bottom.

(I replaced the password with "x" just in case.)

[wmcbrine]

No change, because you haven't disabled ffmpeg. Remember the other part -- it has to not be in the PATH. If you open a Terminal and type "ffmpeg", does it come up?

And I'm just assuming that the ffmpeg line wasn't put right back by pyTivoX...

[jpaul34]

that config file has been the same since I changed it. Yoav said it would overwrite if I hit apply, which I haven't.

As for the PATH, I thought that was this line...

path=/Users/macuser/Documents/TiVo Recordings

how do I remove it from the PATH? (Thanks for bearing with me, I'm not a programmer.)

Will removing it from the PATH affect the functionality of pyTivo? I mainly need this to transfer all mpeg files and some avi files.

here's what happens when I open desktop...

Your-New-Macintosh:~ macuser$ ffmpeg
-bash: ffmpeg: command not found

[jpaul34]

I installed mplayer OS X extended, but I'm not clear how to use it to rip a DVD. there don't seem to be any options for this on the GUI, so I'm assuming I have to use the command line like I've been using for the older mplayer...

/Applications/MPlayer\ OSX.app/Contents/Resources/External_Binaries/mplayer.app/Contents/MacOS/mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile ~/Desktop/movie.mpg

do I use this same command line or do I need to direct it elsewhere?

[Yoav]

I installed mplayer OS X extended, but I'm not clear how to use it to rip a DVD. there don't seem to be any options for this on the GUI, so I'm assuming I have to use the command line like I've been using for the older mplayer...

/Applications/MPlayer\ OSX.app/Contents/Resources/External_Binaries/mplayer.app/Contents/MacOS/mplayer dvd://1 -dumpstream -dumpfile ~/Desktop/movie.mpg

do I use this same command line or do I need to direct it elsewhere?

presumably you use the same commandline, just use something like /Applications/Mplayer\ OSX\ Extended.app/.....

[Yoav]

that config file has been the same since I changed it. Yoav said it would overwrite if I hit apply, which I haven't.

As for the PATH, I thought that was this line...

path=/Users/macuser/Documents/TiVo Recordings

how do I remove it from the PATH? (Thanks for bearing with me, I'm not a programmer.)

Will removing it from the PATH affect the functionality of pyTivo? I mainly need this to transfer all mpeg files and some avi files.

here's what happens when I open desktop...

Your-New-Macintosh:~ macuser$ ffmpeg
-bash: ffmpeg: command not found

I'm not really clear on what you're trying to do, but ffmpeg doesn't come with MacOSX, pyTivoX includes ffmpeg so you can access it by running something like /Applications/pyTivoX.app/Contents/Resources/ffmpeg

edit Just read what's going on. I think you'll need to edit the pytivo.conf and take out the ffmpeg line. ffmpeg will not be in your path by default. Then exit pyTivoX, and run it again.

[wmcbrine]

He's trying to follow my test from #41, after my comments in #34 about disabling ffmpeg as a workaround.

jpaul34, I don't know what to tell you. Based on the log you posted, ffmpeg is clearly running. And as I look again at the log, it's clearly the one that comes with pyTivoX, so I shouldn't have brought up the PATH issue.

[jpaul34]

I figured out what I did wrong...I read Yoav's message about the config file:

However, it is generally written out by pytivox (when you hit the apply button). So you *can* make changes to it, but if you do, never hit the 'apply' button or you will lose them.

And took from it that I couldn't close or hit apply, when I am supposed to close and restart. Trying the Bolt transfer now and it started playing, so things are already looking up.

Am I losing any functionality by removing the ffmpeg line from the config file? Will pyTivo still play avi files? (I wasn't able to play avi files with TiVo Desktop.)

Edit I gather the ffmpeg line is what allows for conversion on the fly from avi to mpeg. Now that the ffmpeg line is gone, none of the avi's in my recordings folder are showing up. Oh well, at least I know how to get around those troublesome files -- Bolt transferred perfectly and the Dark Knight is looking good too.

wmcbrine -- if you happen to figure out what I did wrong when I ripped those files, let me know. I'd love to be able to have seamless transfers.

[jpaul34]

Tried to transfer Benjamin Button today several different times and it failed. Removed the ffmpeg line from the pytivo config and it still failed.

The first attempt was with an mplayer rip, the second was with the same rip and the ffmpeg line removed, the third with a handbrake rip (to .avi) and the final was with a mactheripper rip (.vob) converted into mpeg via mpegstreamclip (ffmpeg line removed from config).

It's a big file (6.0 GB) and the bigger files seem to be the ones causing problems.

Log is attached if you're interested. I think it's just the log from the final attempt since I restarted pytivo (ffmpeg line is still removed from config).

[wmcbrine]

The failure is not really apparent there... I see a 200 request, followed by a 206, which in the old days came after the file was complete, or on failure (but there's no sign of failure between the 200 and the 206). I also see "INFO:pyTivo.video.video:(32, 'Broken pipe')", but that comes later. (And the "NonLocalNameException" stuff should be irrelevant to this.) Are you sure the movie didn't transfer? Hmm... I guess a delayed socket timeout could produce that output.

Anyway, you might want to try something based on a more recent version of pyTivo, since I have support for resuming failed transfers now.

[jpaul34]

My PyTivo is up to date with the beta (1.3b5).

[wmcbrine]

Your pyTivoX may be up to date, but your pyTivo is not. But I guess you'll have to talk to Yoav about that.

[jpaul34]

So you're saying that beta version 1.3b5 of pyTivoX doesn't contain the latest version of pyTivo? Is there a version of pyTivoX that does contain the latest version of pyTivo that can support resuming failed transfers? I was under the impression that the beta version supported this. Bummer.

[bankshot]

Wow, reading through this thread, I'm almost convinced that jpaul34 is an alter ego of myself. We have the same computer, are using the same software, getting the same error messages in the logs, and sometimes on the same movies! I am using pyTivoX 1.2.1 on my Mac mini (still on OS X 10.5.6 - but that shouldn't be relevant).

I am new to the TiVo as of about a month ago, and the ability to make my entire DVD collection available to the device (eliminating the need for a home theater PC/Mac I was previously planning on) was a huge selling point. When it works, it's awesome - I can finally use the same device for watching TV as well as all other media. When it doesn't work, it's supremely frustrating - especially when you start watching a transfer in progress, only to have it killed halfway through.

Like jpaul34, I had failures with Bolt and Benjamin Button, both ripped as VOB/MPEG-2 from DVD. In the case of Bolt, the pytivo.log says "DEBUG:pyTivo.video.transcode:TRANSCODE=YES, None kbps exceeds max audio bitrate." I will retry later with ffmpeg moved out of the pyTivoX hierarchy to see if it transfers ok without transcoding.

For Benjamin Button, it had a problem about 27 minutes into the movie. Streaming via streambaby also aborted at this point, but if you fast-forwarded past that point, you could resume watching while streaming. Also had the same thing happen at about 1:48 while streaming - curiously about 27 minutes past the halfway mark of the movie. Maybe it's the same physical spot on the disc in layer 1 and layer 2? We were able to watch the movie by skipping the bad points and have since deleted the files (it was a "time-shifted" rental).

I can provide a sample file that fails every time, if anyone is interested in taking a look. A Simpsons episode is probably the smallest such file I have.

I've found that using MPEG Streamclip and repairing timecode breaks has fixed transfer issues for a number of files. But the above were run through it this way and still had problems.

I also own The Dark Knight and will try transferring it soon to see if I also have problems like jpaul34. Right now I am basically running through all my ripped DVDs and transferring them to the TiVo to see which ones fail. At least then I'll know not to start watching those mid-transfer...

Thanks for any help!

[Yoav]

So you're saying that beta version 1.3b5 of pyTivoX doesn't contain the latest version of pyTivo? Is there a version of pyTivoX that does contain the latest version of pyTivo that can support resuming failed transfers? I was under the impression that the beta version supported this. Bummer.

The latest beta of pyTivoX (which was built a while ago) definitely included the resume support -- since it was built for someone who needed it.

I'm about to build a new beta so that should include all the latest everything again. Check for an update from pyTivoX in about 30 mins...

But to answer your question, pyTivoX (beta) when built, pulls the latest pytivo, streambaby, ffmpeg, and other support libs when I build it. However, if five minutes later a code change goes in to pytivo, it will not be included in the pytivox beta until the next build...

[jpaul34]

Excellent -- I'll try the beta when I get back home. (I'm on vacation for a few more days.) Thank you for all the work you do on this program.

[jpaul34]

Bankshot -- let me know if you ever find out what is causing these problems with these certain movies. I'm hopeful that the resume function in the latest beta of pytivox will solve my issue. I like to get the whole movie over to the TiVo before starting to watch it (rather than stream it) so that no issues are likely to pop up after I sit down to watch the film.

[jpaul34]

I downloaded the beta (1.3b6) and tried transferring The International, which failed at the 1 hr 36 min mark. Attached is my pytivo log -- any idea why this didn't resume?

[wmcbrine]

All I can see in the log is that it resumed twice, with each of the three requests ending in an error. Maybe the TiVo just gave up?

I really recommend a wired connection.

[jpaul34]

I do have a wired connection.

The second attempt at transferring The International was successful.

[wmcbrine]

I do have a wired connection.Really? On both ends? Wow. I've never seen that kind of behavior on my network.

[jpaul34]

Yes, my Mac Mini and TiVo HD are hardwired to the same router.