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Different people's TiVos with MRV

Discussion in 'TiVo Coffee House - TiVo Discussion' started by Bigg, Mar 17, 2014.

  1. Mar 17, 2014 #1 of 12
    Bigg

    Bigg Cord Cutter

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    I may end up with another roommate who also owns a TiVo, in his case a Roamio Plus or Pro.

    How do we get them to do MRV? Do we have to move his TiVo to my account? Will that nuke his saved shows? On the other end, will separating them nuke the saved shows?
     
  2. Mar 18, 2014 #2 of 12
    unitron

    unitron Well-Known Member

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    They'll need to be using the same Media Access Key, or MAK, which means being on the same account.

    I've bought used TiVos before and transferred them to my account, which means the MAK got changed, and have not lost the shows the previous owner recorded and left on the unit (in cases where they did not run a Clear and Delete Everything, forcing me to start with Guided Setup), but this has been on S2s and S3s, and I have no S4 or S5 experience, so I can't offer a guarantee, only an informed guess that it should probably still be that way.

    Of course if they're recorded off of a cable company that sets the anti-copy bit on everything they legally can (which is everything except local broadcasts they re-transmit on their basic tier), then you can't copy them to PC or to another TiVo anyway, no matter who owns what.

    (another reason I'm in no hurry to move from analog cable to digital)
     
  3. Mar 18, 2014 #3 of 12
    bayern_fan

    bayern_fan Member

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    My suggestion would be to move both units to a 3rd account that you both share access too. If the units are both on lifetime service, this step would probably be easier as it wouldn't mess with any of the monthly service billing.
     
  4. Mar 18, 2014 #4 of 12
    MHunter1

    MHunter1 TiVo Bug Hunter

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    If you want to keep your accounts separate, you can transfer programs from one TiVo to a PC using TiVo Desktop, pyTiVo, kmttg, or TiVoPlayList and then transfer those programs from the PC to the other TiVo. You could also use comskip or VideoReDo to strip out the commercials before transferring back to the TiVo.
     
  5. Mar 18, 2014 #5 of 12
    Bigg

    Bigg Cord Cutter

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    HBO is the only thing that's tied to one box, and that's tied to hardware, even if the same person bought them, so two different people owning them doesn't really change anything.

    If it keeps recordings when transferring on the Premieres and Roamios, then that's the simple answer. That wouldn't be hard at all. All units are Lifetime units.

    I could just make the password on my account something that I don't use elsewhere and give it to my roommate(s), as it's needed for the mobile app as well. None of my roommates currently have the mobile app, but I offered to just log in on their phone if they want it.

    That's ridiculous. We need simple MRV. If the shows stay on the box when transferring accounts, we can just move his to my account for a year and then move it back after our lease ends and we go our various ways.
     
  6. Mar 19, 2014 #6 of 12
    mattack

    mattack Well-Known Member

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    You won't be able to download the ALREADY RECORDED shows after changing the account, right?

    Aren't the programs encrypted with the MAK? That is, he will be able to watch them on the Tivo, but won't be able to transfer them anywhere (to another Tivo or a computer) after moving it to his account?

    If I am wrong, which I very well may be, please correct me.
     
  7. Mar 20, 2014 #7 of 12
    ggieseke

    ggieseke Well-Known Member

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    I think it would work. The internal encryption on the TiVo uses something else like the TSN that's burned into the motherboard. AFAIK, the MAK itself isn't used as the encryption key until you download to a computer.

    Shows downloaded before switching accounts would have to be decrypted using the old MAK, so write it down.
     
  8. Mar 20, 2014 #8 of 12
    unitron

    unitron Well-Known Member

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    I've got a 648 that had some shows left on it from the previous owner.

    Since I transferred it to my account, the MAK has been changed since those shows were recorded.

    I just copied a couple of Futuramas to PC from it via Desktop, and from the PC to a 649 where they play just fine.
     
  9. Mar 20, 2014 #9 of 12
    Bigg

    Bigg Cord Cutter

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    Cool! Sounds like I'm good to go if we end up with multiple TiVos! I also found that the app today, after magically losing my login, can be paired on the same network with the MAK so that I didn't need to have my login and password, so roommates can do the same if they want the apps.
     
  10. Mar 21, 2014 #10 of 12
    Jonathan_S

    Jonathan_S Well-Known Member

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    I'm pretty sure that still only works if the two TiVos have the same MAK...

    I thought you got an 'can't transfer' if you tried to download them to a TiVo with a non-matching MAK.
     
  11. Mar 21, 2014 #11 of 12
    scandia101

    scandia101 Just the facts ma'am

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    They need the same MAK, unless the MAK is removed. Some of the methods listed by unitron, such as kmttg, can remove the MAK and other data so that it can be transferred to any tivo.
    And Tivo decoder GUI is another easy to use program that can remove the Tivo data from existing recordings.
     
  12. Mar 21, 2014 #12 of 12
    Bigg

    Bigg Cord Cutter

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    Hence, the same account. So if we end up in that situation, his will be moved to my account for a year, so that it has a matching MAK, and then he can move it back. When I upgrade a 4TB upgraded Roamio Pro in the future, I will probably give my Premiere and maybe a mini to my parents, at which point, mine will get transferred to my mom's account. Sounds like it should all work just fine.
     

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