Hooking TIVO up to your Computer...
- Thread starter KingKoopa
- Start date
wherzwaldo
1,000+ Posts
The USB port could be for anything (Tivo uses it for network adapters), but I'm not sure if the Time Warner DVRs support transferring shows via USB. My friend has one, so I'll ask him.
I know that later this year, Tivo is supposed to be coming out with TivoToGo, which I believe supports transferring shows with a USB->Firewire cable.
One surefire way would be to use a video card with capture capabilities and just make the necessary hookups from the DVR to your video card and sound card. If your current video card has capture capabilities, it probably came with software to allow you to do so. If it doesn't support it, you might consider either replacing your video card, or buying a video capture daughtercard or external converter box. Some converter boxes I've seen will convert to USB, and they are reasonably priced, but I don't know how the quality is.
If you have an antiquated video card without capture, your best bet is probably to replace your video card. The ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 would be all you need. If you're not into gaming, there are probably some cheaper, less-powerful cards that would fit the bill just as well.
I know that later this year, Tivo is supposed to be coming out with TivoToGo, which I believe supports transferring shows with a USB->Firewire cable.
One surefire way would be to use a video card with capture capabilities and just make the necessary hookups from the DVR to your video card and sound card. If your current video card has capture capabilities, it probably came with software to allow you to do so. If it doesn't support it, you might consider either replacing your video card, or buying a video capture daughtercard or external converter box. Some converter boxes I've seen will convert to USB, and they are reasonably priced, but I don't know how the quality is.
If you have an antiquated video card without capture, your best bet is probably to replace your video card. The ATI All-In-Wonder 9600 would be all you need. If you're not into gaming, there are probably some cheaper, less-powerful cards that would fit the bill just as well.
KingKoopa
250+ Posts
thanks for the info waldo. my video card has video out but no video in capabilities... replacing it with an all-in-wonder isn't really an option, cause i don't have the money for it when this is just kind of another toy i'd like to have.
let me know if your friend has had any luck with the USB port on the TW boxes. I assume it won't work, since you'd obviously have to have some kind of program to import the video... I have adobe premier, but haven't tried to see if the cable box would plug-and-play itself.
let me know if your friend has had any luck with the USB port on the TW boxes. I assume it won't work, since you'd obviously have to have some kind of program to import the video... I have adobe premier, but haven't tried to see if the cable box would plug-and-play itself.
wherzwaldo
1,000+ Posts
It depends a lot on how the DVR stores its shows. For instance, Tivo uses a Unix/Linux shell, so it would be difficult (if not impossible) to just hook it up to a Windows PC and start copying files. Hence the need for an interface cable like TivoToGo.
Try Googling the manufacturer and/or model number of the DVR and see if anyone has hacked it. My guess is that the USB port was put there for future compatibility and features, but doesn't serve much purpose right now. However, like I said, I have no first-hand experience with those.
As for my friend, I'm sure he's never tried it, but I figured maybe he knew something about why it has a USB port. He just moved to Florida for the summer and left his DVR in Austin, so he can't try it either.
Try Googling the manufacturer and/or model number of the DVR and see if anyone has hacked it. My guess is that the USB port was put there for future compatibility and features, but doesn't serve much purpose right now. However, like I said, I have no first-hand experience with those.
As for my friend, I'm sure he's never tried it, but I figured maybe he knew something about why it has a USB port. He just moved to Florida for the summer and left his DVR in Austin, so he can't try it either.
for the old models, it is fairly complicated and involved removing the hard drive (or at least the cover) and physically running a ribbon cable from your tivo to the comp. Then you need this special software that converts the files over from Tvio format, to mpeg.
google 'tivo hack to pc' or something like that and your should get some hits. There are a ton of how tos floating out there. I have upgraded a tivo before (put in a bigger hard drive) and saw some of this stuff.
google 'tivo hack to pc' or something like that and your should get some hits. There are a ton of how tos floating out there. I have upgraded a tivo before (put in a bigger hard drive) and saw some of this stuff.
CaptainObvious
25+ Posts
You can put a NIC into a Series 1 Tivo, put it on your network, and ftp the movie files off of it, but it requires disassembling the system and buying the special NIC.
Last I saw they hadn't figured out how to decrypt the Tivo files from the Series 2 I think, but that was about 10 months ago. The USB NIC at that time was only really useful for uploading the new programming data.
I have no idea about the TW DVR.
Last I saw they hadn't figured out how to decrypt the Tivo files from the Series 2 I think, but that was about 10 months ago. The USB NIC at that time was only really useful for uploading the new programming data.
I have no idea about the TW DVR.
KingKoopa
250+ Posts
thanks for all the help, i'll have to google around when i get back later today.
i'm less interested now, however, because my primary interest was getting still frame footage of the no-goal in the stanley cup finals game 6, but highbury found one for me, even though it took him a really long time.
i'm less interested now, however, because my primary interest was getting still frame footage of the no-goal in the stanley cup finals game 6, but highbury found one for me, even though it took him a really long time.
wherzwaldo
1,000+ Posts
most people who build these hook it up to a HDTV or projector, which are just like (have similar screen resolutions and timings) a computor monitor. This is a breeze to do if your TV has DVI in. IF you only have component in, you need a $100 transcoder.
The AVS forum linked above is where i picked up 98% of knowlegde to build my setup. If you are just building a Tivo, it is horrible ROI for the money spent (based on the great deals and decent reliability on commercial products). But with a little more work, you can make the computer a audio/video on-demand library, with a great benefit of 'time-shifting' Netflix so that you can get a ton of movies per month.
The AVS forum linked above is where i picked up 98% of knowlegde to build my setup. If you are just building a Tivo, it is horrible ROI for the money spent (based on the great deals and decent reliability on commercial products). But with a little more work, you can make the computer a audio/video on-demand library, with a great benefit of 'time-shifting' Netflix so that you can get a ton of movies per month.
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