Transferring programs to TiVo desktop

[AndoverStrunt]

I am attempting to transfer a recorded program from my Tivo (Series 2) to my PC via wireless connection. The TiVo Server sees my DVR, and everything seems to be OK.

I am attempting to transfer one specific program, but it only gets 4Mb completed (out of 2586) and it stops, showing complete. The program is recorded on the TiVo at "best" quality and is complete. I can transfer other media and recorded programs without problems. I have LOTS of disk space.

Any suggestions? Thanx

[CuriousMark]

Originally Posted by AndoverStrunt

I am attempting to transfer a recorded program from my Tivo (Series 2) to my PC via wireless connection. The TiVo Server sees my DVR, and everything seems to be OK.

I am attempting to transfer one specific program, but it only gets 4Mb completed (out of 2586) and it stops, showing complete. The program is recorded on the TiVo at "best" quality and is complete. I can transfer other media and recorded programs without problems. I have LOTS of disk space.

Any suggestions? Thanx

Is there glitch in the video or audio at that point in the program?

[Odysseus]

I am having a similar issue. I had some programs that were transferring last night, when i came back in the morning the last 3-4 had transferred much faster than I had expected. I turned on the television and I saw that a TiVo service update had been applied. I can no longer tranfer any files off the TiVo, even using the (unsupported) web interface gives severely truncated files.

Viewing the files does show that technically there is a "glitch in the video or audio" at the point that it stops, i see the TiVo issuing a channel change request to the digital tuner, then the file ends right at the point that the new channel would become visible. It takes about 2sec, and all my files are about 850 Kb large.

UPDATE: I have found at least one file that is willing to download beyond the 2sec mark, so it's possible that a couple of my shows could transfer off. But the majority of the shows (including ones that I had previously transfered off without problems) are no longer accessible.

[TiVoJerry]

What model (TSN prefix) DVR do you have?
What make/model adapter does it use?
What OS do you have on your PC?
Do any of the "good" programs include a channel change at the beginning of the recording?
Does this only happen on recordings made after the upgrade, or does it also happen on recordings made while the DVR was running 7.3.1?

[Odysseus]

Bah, I hope I'm not usurping the OP too much here...

I did compare shows that would transfer aganst shows that would not transfer (a very small sample size of 5-6 shows) and did find that shows that would not transfer would have a rougher time changing the channel (with a black screen for half a second followed by brief macroblock errors), while the ones that did transfer either did not change the channel or the channel changed smoothly with no visible black frames.

This truncation occurs to shows whether they were recorded before or after the update, and it occurs to shows that were successfully downloaded in their entirety before the update was applied (but that for some reason i deleted off the pc and had to re-transfer).

My OS is Windows XP Pro, the tests in this post were made against the (unsupported) TiVo device website using FireFox 1.5.0.8. My TSN is 540, software version 8.1-01-2-540. The network adapter says "NetGear FA120".

[steve614]

Originally Posted by AndoverStrunt

I am attempting to transfer a recorded program from my Tivo (Series 2) to my PC via wireless connection. The TiVo Server sees my DVR, and everything seems to be OK.

I am attempting to transfer one specific program, but it only gets 4Mb completed (out of 2586) and it stops, showing complete. The program is recorded on the TiVo at "best" quality and is complete. I can transfer other media and recorded programs without problems. I have LOTS of disk space.

Any suggestions? Thanx

This sounds like a problem I had. Is your PC hard drive using FAT 32 filing system?
If so, 4Mb is the max size that will transfer.

If I plan to transfer a show that I know will be larger than 4Mb, I manually set the Tivo to record it in 1 hr increments, transfer the files to my PC, then edit them together on PC.

I know there are other workarounds to this problem, but since I rarely transfer programs of that size, this is what works best for me.

Steve

[PenguinDude]

This has to be a bug in the 8.1 update. There are people who experience the same thing on the official Tivo help forum. So far Tivo has not acknowledged the issue probably becasue they don't know what's going on. I called tech support and the first thing the representative asked me what make and model is my wireless router. What the hell is the difference, I have transferred literally 100's of recordings becasue I archive EPL, Champions League and NHL games. Some files were as big as 6-7 Gb and it never failed, ever. Up until I got this update that doesn't seem to do much anyway except added 802.11g support. Since the update I was able to transfer 1 recording that was about 6 Gb, everything else fails. I have tried everything, rebooted the router, the Tivo itself, reinstalled TivoDesktop 2.3a, I have tried the web interface, I have tried a different PC. As for the recordings, they are fine. They all play without problems on the Tivo. Some of them do have the channel change at the beginning that someone has mentioned, but all my recordings in the past did that becasue most of the time the recordings occur I'm not even home, so tivo has to change the channel. This is driving me crazy because it has seriously put a damper on my archiving activities right in the middle of EPL, Champions League and NHL season. I wish someone knew what causes this and how to fix it or tivo would release an update that fixes it. or something

[rscar627]

Having the same problem....2 of my Tivo's have the update and 1 doesn't. The one that is still on 7.3 has no problem transferring. I am leaving on vacation tomorrow and was hoping to take some shows with me. Right now the only way to do this is to transfer shows to the one with 7.3 and then to my PC. Definitely a bug in the 8.1 update.

[Hatnj]

Glad or not glad to see Im not the only one with this problem
Difference with some is Im wired network via usb adapter and transfered alot of shows since getting My new series 2 THEN the 8.1 update and that became history

too bad I cant roll back to 7.3

[chucksax]

My TiVo-to-go with file conversion USED to work with 7.3 - now, with 8.1, it just doesn't work. The overwhelming majority of my TiVo shows will not transfer anymore - just 2 seconds' worth, then nothing.

In addition to that, I'm having a LOT of issues with the TiVo changing channels - it used to be fine, but is now not changing channels reliably.

I'm using a Series 2 box, with a wireless network adaptor (whatever was in the TiVo store - gift from my sister-in-law) with a cisco wireless router to a PC.

[schizoid2k]

Originally Posted by rscar627

Having the same problem....2 of my Tivo's have the update and 1 doesn't. The one that is still on 7.3 has no problem transferring. I am leaving on vacation tomorrow and was hoping to take some shows with me. Right now the only way to do this is to transfer shows to the one with 7.3 and then to my PC. Definitely a bug in the 8.1 update.

My 240 model Tivo cannot transfer when it was at 7.3, and still no transfer after the 8.1 upgrade.

My 540 model Tivo can transfer with both versions, although the transfer is VERY slow (4 hours for a 1 hour program), even though the unit is closer to my wireless router.

This is getting very frustrating, and I was under the assumption that 8.1 would fix this issue. It appear to get to a point in the transfer of any file, and then the Tivo just reboots.

This was not the case prior to 7.3, and I would like that functionality back.

[Odysseus]

Originally Posted by steve614

This sounds like a problem I had. Is your PC hard drive using FAT 32 filing system?
If so, 4Mb is the max size that will transfer.

Just an FYI, the maximum file size on a FAT32 drive is 4GB, not 4MB. If the recording rate for the OP is similar to the recording rate on my Tivo, then his/her problem is occurring a fraction of a second into the recording.

[steve614]

Originally Posted by Odysseus

Just an FYI, the maximum file size on a FAT32 drive is 4GB, not 4MB. If the recording rate for the OP is similar to the recording rate on my Tivo, then his/her problem is occurring a fraction of a second into the recording.

I stand corrected!

[PenguinDude]

According to the official Tivo help forum, Tivo engineers are looking into this and trying to duplicate the problem on their end. Whether or not the 8.1 software version has to be updated or this can be remedied by some setup adjustment remains to be seen, provided they do find the cause of this phenomenon.
I'm going to do a little experiment today, where I will change the channel manually before the recording starts, and will see if I can xfer or not. That should prove if the problem is caused by the channel change including the black screen at the beginning of the program.

[AndoverStrunt]

Thank you for the responses - YES, there is a channel change request at the exact moment when the transfer stops. Hope to hear of a solution soon, as I am really interested in saving this program.
BTW - the TiVo system I have is running 8.1 and my PC is top-of-the-line with Win XP Media Center and a 400Gb NTFS HDD.

[CuriousMark]

TiVo has asked in another thread for people having this problem to post the type of cable box they have, (make, model and version information please) as well as how the cable box is being controlled (IR or serial, code speed, etc).

This does appear to be a channel changing issue, so information on how you do the channel changes and what you are changing channels on should help them duplicate it when they get back to work on Monday.

CuriousMark

[Odysseus]

Well, before commenting (and four hours drive away from home) I will state that I have one of those icky General Instruments boxes that are so popular, controlled by a wire. I don't remember what speed at the moment.

I must say though that this is fairly obviously *not* a channel changing situation, or at least not something that TiVo can control without forcing people to change to a different cable box (good luck there). It feels to me very much like when the channel is changed and you move into a channel between keyframes, there is a period of time that the video stream is not decodable. The cable box is most likely allowing some of these untranslated incremental frames through and the TiVo is recording them.

The problem here (at least the one that has recently come up) doesn't seem to be so much a channel changing issue (that is controlled by the cable box more than TiVo) but by TiVo no longer willing to transfer files off of itself that contain video or audio glitches. These are shows that were previously transferrable over the previous OS version (although tranferring such programs *into* the TiVo was failing with similar symptoms, but that's a seperate issue). The channel change marker just happens to be the most popular way to introduce glitches into a program that wouldn't otherwise happen unless someone's cable went out for a fraction of a second.

In my mind my TiVo shouldn't be really caring about the contents of the program while it was transferring it unless it was doing something weird like watermarking on the fly. And if it is watermarking, it shouldn't be causing the entire show to be failing because of a channel change glitch

[issah]

Just want to add my name to the list of people having the same problem. I have Time Warner Cable, Los Angeles, Motorola Cable Box w/serial connection to Tivo box.

[AndoverStrunt]

I'm using a Time Warner box (Scientific Atlanta) using a Tivo-supplied IR sender to change the channel. Networked using a USB wireless adapter (D-Link 802.11g DWL-G122) into a Linksys router. There is definately a moment at the beginning of the program where the channel is being changed by the TiVo and the SA box is responding to the channel change request. The program was on my To-Do list and the channel was changed and the program recorded automatically by the TiVo.

Hope to get this resolved.

[ReedSavory]

Add me to the list of folks having this same problem. I'm a Comcast customer, with a Motorola digital cable box, connected via serial cable to the TiVo.

Before the "Fall 2006" update, all my transfers worked fine. Since then, less than one out of every five programs will transfer to the PC.

I've also sent a complaint to TiVo via the TiVo Desktop "Feedback" function, we'll see if they bother to reply.

[rage777]

This sounds like the same thing that happened to a lot of people (including me) when we got the 7.3.1 update. The problem was that the wireless adapter suddenly became "unsupported". So even though it worked (in my case for over a year) before, it is now not supported. If you are using anything but a Tivo adapter, it probably won't work. I got my 8.1 update and my Tivo adapter is still working.

[archieleach]

There's a thread about this issue as well over in the Home Media Features & TiVo ToGo forum:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...d.php?t=325793

So, is TiVo trying to push this off on cable providers/equipment? Or are they recognizing that the channel change is throwing off 8.1, which means 8.1 needs to be fixed?

[morac]

Here's the link to the TiVo help forums thread about this problem:

http://forums.tivo.com/pe/action/for...nExpertiseCode


You should probably post the following info:
1. Model/make of your cable box (eg: Motorola DCT2000)
2. Cable company (eg: Comcast)
3. Channel change method (eg: serial or IR)
4. Does the transfer cut-off at the channel change?
5. Does it occur only on shows recorded since 8.1 was installed or also on ones recorded with earlier software?
6. Does it occur on digital channels only or also analog channels (assuming your cable system is still using analog)?


BTW, I've seen this once before with a prior software release where there was a glitch in the recording (playing on the TiVo showed blocking). The process that "converts" the recording for transfer is susceptible to noise which will end the transfer when using TTG.

A possible work around if you have a 2nd TiVo is to play the show on the first TiVo past the channel change and then pause the playback. Then use the 2nd TiVo to transfer the show over using Multiroom Viewing. Then transfer from the 2nd TiVo to the PC. This should work though it is a much longer process and only works for people with more than one S2 TiVo.

[MusicMama]

Originally Posted by morac

A possible work around if you have a 2nd TiVo is to play the show on the first TiVo past the channel change and then pause the playback. Then use the 2nd TiVo to transfer the show over using Multiroom Viewing. Then transfer from the 2nd TiVo to the PC. This should work though it is a much longer process and only works for people with more than one S2 TiVo.

Sadly, once your other TiVo gets the 8.1 update, this is no longer possible. I have 3 TiVos and now they are all fubar'd. No multi-room transfers anymore.

[greg_burns]

Originally Posted by MusicMama

Sadly, once your other TiVo gets the 8.1 update, this is no longer possible. I have 3 TiVos and now they are all fubar'd. No multi-room transfers anymore.

Really? I thought this problem was only with Tivo2Go.

[CuriousMark]

Originally Posted by archieleach

So, is TiVo trying to push this off on cable providers/equipment? Or are they recognizing that the channel change is throwing off 8.1, which means 8.1 needs to be fixed?

TiVos need to work with all cable boxes. They will fix it, to my mind the question is whether or not affected people will have to wait for the next release, which could be a while.

CuriousMark

[CuriousMark]

Originally Posted by greg_burns

Really? I thought this problem was only with Tivo2Go.

That is all I am seeing here and over at the TiVo forums. Several have reported that MRV still works and I think I saw a post saying the MRV from savepoint and then TTG transfer worked.

CuriousMark

[CuriousMark]

Originally Posted by MusicMama

Sadly, once your other TiVo gets the 8.1 update, this is no longer possible. I have 3 TiVos and now they are all fubar'd. No multi-room transfers anymore.

There is something else going on with your setup, others are not seeing this. Please post your details and I bet people here can help you get to the bottom of it.

CuriousMark

[PenguinDude]

Originally Posted by rage777

This sounds like the same thing that happened to a lot of people (including me) when we got the 7.3.1 update. The problem was that the wireless adapter suddenly became "unsupported". So even though it worked (in my case for over a year) before, it is now not supported. If you are using anything but a Tivo adapter, it probably won't work. I got my 8.1 update and my Tivo adapter is still working.

This is probably what it's gonna come down to. Wonderful marketing strategy to force every Tivo user to buy the Tivo "certified" wireless adapter. Things like this can only help make Tivo more appealing to investors.

[Odysseus]

So, is there a TiVo certified wired adapter or something that I need to replace my NetGear adapter with? It's still listed as a supported adapter on the webpage...