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Questions from a noob

 
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wlk



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 5:49 pm    Post subject: Questions from a noob Reply with quote

I just finished downloading/installing python v2.5.2 and pyTivo v2008.05.02 on my Windows XP Pro SP3 workstation and had a few questions:

1. I installed pyTivo as a service (inputting my User name and password), but the only way my Tivo S3 HD would "see" my pyTivo directory was if I launched the console (i.e., I could not manually start the service from the "Services (Local)" window). So I modified the pyTivo properties to log on as a local system account and was able to start it right up. Is this normal?

2. What is FFmpeg used for? I'm guessing local (e.g., PC) playback, but don't know if I need it if all I'm doing is trying to move video to/from my TiVo to my NAS. And if I do need it, where can I download it? Unfortuately, the pyTivo webpage points you to the FFmpeg webpage, which in turn takes you to the Mplayer website, but it's not clear to me what I need to download.

3. How do you move videos from your TiVo to your pyTivo directory? I'd guess one approach would be to use TiVo desktop to copy it locally (since I haven't been able to get it to see my mapped network drives) and then manually move the file to my NAS, but don't know if there a more direct and/or better way.

Sorry if these are noob questions, but there doesn't seem to a "new users" guide.

wlk
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wmcbrine



Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 2008
Location: Maryland

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 7:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. I don't use that feature, but it sounds normal to me, yes.

2. FFmpeg is used to convert files from other formats to TiVo-compatible MPEG-2 (or, in the music plugin, to MP3). It's also used to get information about the file (such as duration) even for compatible files, except .TiVo files. So, yes, you pretty much need it. But a Windows binary is already provided with pyTivo.

3. pyTivo is more about PC -> TiVo than TiVo -> PC; however, you can set up the Admin plugin, click on "pyTivo ToGo" in your browser, and transfer from there. Alternatively, you can download from the TiVo's built-in web server. No need for TiVo Desktop. Smile

You set up the admin plugin with a few lines in pyTivo.conf, like so:

Code:
[admin]
tivo_mak = 0123456789
type = admin
togo_path = c:\your\movies\here


Then you access it via http://localhost:9032/

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wlk



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

1. I dug around the site and found that folks had problems with network drives if they didn't use their username/password to start the service, so I went back and changed it. The good news is that I was able to start the service that way. The bad news...my S3 lists the "My Videos" folder, but it's empty (I manually copied a .tivo file downloaded from TiVo Desktop into the folder).

2. Thanks. Can you tell me where I can find instructions on how to use FFmpeg? I have a 100+ videos from ReplayTV I need to convert (I think).

3. I was able to get pyTivo-ToGo webpage to launch, but when I tried to transfer a file it just hung with a "Initiating transfer, Please wait" message, but nothing happened.

What am I doing wrong?

FYI...I've specified my file folder as T:\My Videos, which is a directory on an unRAID NAS as a mapped network drive.
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wlk



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wlk wrote:
What am I doing wrong?.


Well...I dug around a bit more and found an interesting fact. If I launch pyTivo as a service I see the problems described above. But if I launch pyTivo from the console, all appears to work well (i.e., my Tivo can see files within my video directory and I can use the ToGo webpage to transfer files).

Does that yield any clues?
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wmcbrine



Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 2008
Location: Maryland

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wlk wrote:
Can you tell me where I can find instructions on how to use FFmpeg? I have a 100+ videos from ReplayTV I need to convert (I think).

pyTivo invokes FFmpeg to do the conversion automatically. That's the whole point. Just make sure your "ffmpeg =" path in pyTivo.conf is correct.

I would guess that your ReplayTV files are already compatible MPEG-2. (?)

BTW, you might be interested in this:

http://pytivo.krkeegan.com/downloading-directly-from-replaytv-release-0-7-t102.html

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wlk



Joined: 16 Aug 2008
Posts: 7

PostPosted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 11:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="wlk"]
wlk wrote:
Does that yield any clues?


Answering my own question, "yes". It turns out that running pyTivo as a service ONLY works if you use UNC (Universal Naming Convention) names with mapped network drives. Once I switched from T:\My Videos to \\Tower\disk6\My Videos...all was well. I then went back and converted the service to start locally (i.e., without a username/password) because I'm not using them with in my unRAID server.

btw...thnks wmcbrine for the replay topic link. I posted a question on the DVArchive user forum many months ago and rfryar suggested pyTivo. I'm going to copy a native file over and see what happens.
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JAB



Joined: 28 Jan 2009
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wmcbrine wrote:

Alternatively, you can download from the TiVo's built-in web server. No need for TiVo Desktop. Smile


I would like to know more about the TIVO built in web server. How do you access it?

edit: From what I have gathered, this function was killed on series 3 TIVO's. I have a TIVO HD and would love to be able to transfer files from TIVO to NAS without using the stinking tivo desktop software.

Thanks,
JAB
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rdian06



Joined: 12 Apr 2008
Posts: 1420

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JAB wrote:


I would like to know more about the TIVO built in web server. How do you access it?

edit: From what I have gathered, this function was killed on series 3 TIVO's. I have a TIVO HD and would love to be able to transfer files from TIVO to NAS without using the stinking tivo desktop software.

Thanks,
JAB


From your web browser, go to:
https://<tivoip>/

username : tivo
password : <your MAK>
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wmcbrine



Joined: 04 Jan 2008
Posts: 2008
Location: Maryland

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 7:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JAB wrote:
edit: From what I have gathered, this function was killed on series 3 TIVO's.

Not at all.

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rdian06



Joined: 12 Apr 2008
Posts: 1420

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wmcbrine wrote:
JAB wrote:
edit: From what I have gathered, this function was killed on series 3 TIVO's.

Not at all.


You probably are mis-understanding the copyright flag.

S3 and Tivo HD units will honor the copyright broadcast flag (since they are receiving the broadcast digitally.) So you can download anything where the broadcaster or your local cable affiliate did NOT set the copyright flag.

All the digital over-the-air broadcasts and their digital cable equivalents are required by law to not have the copyright flag set. But the pay cable channels can do whatever they want.
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JAB



Joined: 28 Jan 2009
Posts: 2

PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2009 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

wmcbrine wrote:
JAB wrote:
edit: From what I have gathered, this function was killed on series 3 TIVO's.

Not at all.


the more I dig, the more I love my TIVO and realize I am not even scratching the surface in terms of what it is capable of. I have found your HME/VLC tools, Galleon, kmttg, pytivo, etc. and download them. I will be systematically going through them to see what combination best suits my needs. At first glance, Galleon sounds like it will do everything I want in one package so I will probably start with it. I am very new to this and will probably have more failures than succeses but am willing to learn by trial and error.

What I really want is the ability to automatically dump TIVO material to a NAS and be able to retrieve it, (whethere streamed or copied not that important). I have a P4 2.4ghz machine dedicated to this task and hope that it will be sufficient.

Yours and others comments in these forums have been enlightening!
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