Is there any way to save DVR files?

[basketkase543]

I just entered the DVR scene (Time Warner Cable, fyi) after getting my HDTV and so far I'm loving everything except how quickly the damn box gets filled with HD content. So far I've had the box for two weeks and I've already had to delete content because it's filled up. Is there anyway for me to transfer the DVR files to an external harddrive or my pc so I can actually save content instead of deleting things after a week? Are there any other solutions?

 

[mriswyth]

This will probably only be semi-helpful, but maybe it will encourage you that it is possible or give you the idea of the limitations.

I had a Motorola DVR from Comcast that I was able to "move" shows off of to my computer. Unfortunately, it involved playing the program to actually "transfer" it.

It worked by hooking the firewire output from the Cable Box into the firewire port of my computer and using software to capture the data as it streamed from the Cable Box when the show was played on the DVR. The computer captured the MPEG TS stream which I could then play as is or convert to something smaller for longer storage.

The ccomputer software was specific to the Cable Box I was using or I would dig up the links, but if your cable box has Firewire output then the chances are good that you could find something as well. It helps to know the model of your DVR and then hit Google.

 

[yeah-yeah]

I used to do this with my Series 1 TiVO. I outputted the A/V (S-Video, RCA Stereo Audio) to a product from Dazzle (I can't remember the model - this was 5 years ago) which outputted the video via Firewire and audio via RCA Stereo to my computer. The computer capped the raw A/V signal and I used Virtual Dub to compress the feed into a DiVX avi format.

 

[basketkase543]

[quote name='mriswyth']This will probably only be semi-helpful, but maybe it will encourage you that it is possible or give you the idea of the limitations.

I had a Motorola DVR from Comcast that I was able to "move" shows off of to my computer. Unfortunately, it involved playing the program to actually "transfer" it.

It worked by hooking the firewire output from the Cable Box into the firewire port of my computer and using software to capture the data as it streamed from the Cable Box when the show was played on the DVR. The computer captured the MPEG TS stream which I could then play as is or convert to something smaller for longer storage.

The ccomputer software was specific to the Cable Box I was using or I would dig up the links, but if your cable box has Firewire output then the chances are good that you could find something as well. It helps to know the model of your DVR and then hit Google.[/QUOTE]


And were the TS files copied without any loss of quality? I'd love to keep the TS files without any further compression or loss of quality. I haven't yet looked at my box to see if there's a firewire connection though. I'll look on it and then check back.

 

[ITDEFX]

I had a co-worker last year who paid me to transfer his crappy VH-1 alternative music from the 80's to DVD from his SD-Tivo. There was a USB port on the back of that thing but I couldn't access the tivo's main file directory The only way to pull those videos was to do a analog to digital via my ads pro a/v link system. That took so much time and space and ended up being 8 dvd's worth since he had so many videos. It would have been easlier if I could have pulled the files off the system, but I think they were encrypted. He ended up paying me 300 bucks and gave me that Tivo (worth 200 bucks or so when he got it years ago).

Anyways it's a pain in the ass to do as you need to sit there and watch it transfer if it's short (under 5 minute) videos. My ADS Pryo box for some reason causes XP home/Pro tended to get bitchy and reboot/lock up my system during analog transfers

bah.

 

[mriswyth]

[quote name='basketkase543']And were the TS files copied without any loss of quality? I'd love to keep the TS files without any further compression or loss of quality. I haven't yet looked at my box to see if there's a firewire connection though. I'll look on it and then check back.[/quote]
Your statement is correct. There will be no "further" loss of quality. If you have the time and little bit of equipment the process is pretty easy. Below is the link to my DVR's version of the instructions in case you are a little more curious. It looks like it may work for any DVR in the Motorola DCT64XX series.

http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/

 

[erehwon]

If you want to avoid having to deal with transferring stuff from those boxes, you could look into a tv tuner card for a pc. It's nice to have complete control over it. A retail version (there's another that doesn't come with a remote) PVR-150 costs $70 at newegg. That and some free software like Media portal or GB-PVR work pretty well.

 

[ITDEFX]

[quote name='erehwon']If you want to avoid having to deal with transferring stuff from those boxes, you could look into a tv tuner card for a pc. It's nice to have complete control over it. A retail version (there's another that doesn't come with a remote) PVR-150 costs $70 at newegg. That and some free software like Media portal or GB-PVR work pretty well.[/QUOTE]


That's still an analog capture card which you have to manaully hit record and stop, then use a video editing programs to trim out what you don't want.


Accessing the main file system and transfering the un encrypted files would be easier and faster than a real time analog recording. However getting access to the system's file structure and converting it takes a bit of work.