Long Transfer Hangs

[padave44]

I'm having issues when transferring large files from Tivo to my PC. By large, I mean 4 hour show at best quality, which ends up being about 10.19GB. The transfer starts, but after about 4-5GB of transfer, the Tivo Destop Application stops responding. I know the transfer is still running, because I see the file size increasing via Windows Explorer. The transfer continues up to about 8-9GB, when the transfer stops.

It appears as though a 4 hour show at Good quality (8.21GB) completes the transfer ok, although the Tivo Desktop once again, it hangs after about 4GB.

My Tivo Service Level: 7.3.1-oth-01-2-140
Tivo Desktop: 2.3a
Wireless-G Connection

This seems to be happening consistently - I have never got the whole 10GB to transfer.

Any hints or debugging info would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Dave

[earthvssoup]

I'm not going to pretend to have a definitive answer for you, but I hope my own experiences can help you.

I just finished transfering all of my Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes from VHS to DVD, nearly 100 episodes. Each episode is about 2 hours long. In best quality, thats over 5GB per episode. In this long process I discovered that with large files, TiVo has many opportunities to drop its connection with the home wireless network. Sometimes when TiVo drops its connection to the network the transfer completely freezes. Other times it seems like the network problem is less severe causing major slow downs, but not a complete freeze.

I have tried three methods for transfering files: (1) TivoToGo, (2) TivoPlayList, and (3) Internet Browser. Each has its benefits and downsides, but PlayList may be my overall favorite.

Before each of my transfers I would do the following to try to increase the chances of a successful transfer. Many of these preparations are thanks to a study that one of the board members performed to test the mutliple variables and their effect on download speeds. Brilliant.

1. Transfer files during a time when TiVo does not usually try to connect to the online TiVo service to check for downloads. It seems like this caused interuptions in the transfer.

2. Tune TiVo to channel zero or another channel that does not receive a signal (in my case a channel that does not receive a cable signal).

3. Return to the Now Playing list and start playing back a show, then PAUSE the program.

4. Make sure that TiVo is connected to the wireless network. For my set up, if I saw my PC listed in the Now Playing list, I knew the transfer would at least start okay.

5. Start the transfer using TivoPlayList, not the TiVo ToGo Application. You can search the boards and find a link to this great free application. I love it. TTG has its place and is also a useful program, but for huge files, I find TivoPlayList to be pereferable, if for no other reason than simply because you can monitor the transfer speed. If I see the transfer speed dip below 300kb/s, then I know something is wrong with the network. On the other hand, if the transfer hovers around 500kb/s, then all is well.

I hope these few observations help improve your transfers. BTW, it may be worth noting that there is some type of limitation on using an internet browser to transfer files larger than 4GB. I'm not a computer savant, so I can't explain why, or if there is a work-around.

I hope this helps. Best of luck.

[padave44]

Thanks for ther info. Where can I get TivoPlayList? I found the download site, but couldn't get to the ftp server.

Dave