Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer)

Posted by: robricc

Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 11:52

This hot new software allows you to set up your PC as a fake TiVo that your real TiVos can stream from.
http://tivoserver.sourceforge.net/

This is a killer app. I played with it very late last night, so I didn't get much time to experiment. I did, however, get it working pretty quickly. It will transcode video on the fly to serve to your TiVo. The only thing I had on my laptop was a 30 second XviD I made from a commercial. It worked!

Some notes so far are:
  • It seems to work on Linux a lot better than Windows (I am using Windows at the moment).
  • I initially tried the 0.4 release, but I was missing the dependencies
  • The 0.4 Windows release doesn't seem to pay attention to some command line arguments (such as where to look for files to serve). This was confirmed somewhere on the Deal Database Forum.
  • 0.4.3-a2 was tried and it has a proper Windows installer which contains the dependencies. It runs in the task tray and you're unable to set any preferences at this time, but it works!
  • 0.4.3-a2 looks for videos in C:\Documents and Settings\Your Name\Application Data\video. This can't be changed in the Windows version as far as I can tell. In this way, the Linux version is much more mature.

This program is something I've been wanting for a long time and it's finally here! I'm sure it will keep getting better, but even with its limited configurability now, it's pretty f*cking dope!
Posted by: hybrid8

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 13:01

TiVo's own TiVo desktop doesn't allow PC to TiVo video streaming or transfer? Even with that whole Home Media thing? Hmm...

Bruno
Posted by: drakino

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 18:07

Quote:
It will transcode video on the fly to serve to your TiVo. The only thing I had on my laptop was a 30 second XviD I made from a commercial. It worked!


Now that is really nice, definitely makes that even more handy then DVArchive for the Replay units. Maybe this will get the dev to start working on it again if he sees this as competition.
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 19:20

Quote:
TiVo's own TiVo desktop doesn't allow PC to TiVo video streaming or transfer? Even with that whole Home Media thing? Hmm...

Bruno


You're limited to photos and music files for the HMO. You can send video TO your PC, but I havn't played with that.
Posted by: Ezekiel

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 19:40

I've transferred some videos. If you're using wireless you're limited in d/l speed regardless of which wireless type you have, since the USB is 1.1 you get about 'real-time' d/l speeds, about an hour/hour. If the download is interrupted (my cordless phone overwhelms my 802.11g), it does NOT resume gracefully. Wired ethernet may be better.

-Zeke
Posted by: genixia

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 20:26

Quote:
Quote:
It will transcode video on the fly to serve to your TiVo. The only thing I had on my laptop was a 30 second XviD I made from a commercial. It worked!


Now that is really nice, definitely makes that even more handy then DVArchive for the Replay units. Maybe this will get the dev to start working on it again if he sees this as competition.


Just what I was thinking!
Posted by: mcomb

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 09/02/2006 21:10

Wow, that is sweet. I've been waiting for something like that ever since I got my DirecTivo. So what is involved it the "Superpatch" that is required on the Tivo? I hate trying to sort through the dealdatabase forums for this stuff

-Mike
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 00:20

You have to hack the tivo for this to work though right ?
Posted by: tfabris

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 00:48

Quote:
You have to hack the tivo for this to work though right ?

I'm guessing that this is designed to work for Tivos with the Home Media Option. Meaning, if you've got a tivo with the HMO feature, then no, you don't need to hack your Tivo to make it work.

Those of us with DirecTivos (which don't have the HMO feature) would have to hack.
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 01:20

I have HMO but I couldn't get it to work. I get TivoServer DVR in my now playing list but when I try to access it the tivo tells my I need to enable multi-room viewing on TivoServer DVR
Posted by: robricc

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 01:24

That's odd. I just added some more stuff (MPEGs this time) and my tivos are happily swallowing them up. Is your tivo a DirecTivo? What version are you running?
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 01:27

Nope I just have a SA series 2 it's got 7.2.1. According to the tivoserver page you have to hack it.

Quote:
You need a Series 2 Tivo that is connected to your home network along with your computer. Unfortunately you will also need to hack your Tivo and apply the Superpatch.
Posted by: robricc

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 01:43

Quote:
Nope I just have a SA series 2 it's got 7.2.1. According to the tivoserver page you have to hack it.

That blows. Sorry I can't give advice on hacking an SA unit. Especially one with 7.x software.
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 01:59

It's weird that any hack on the tivo would even be required it shows up on the tivo but the tivo just thinks that the tivoserver unit doesn't have multiroom viewing enabled.

I could have sworn that SA series 2 could do this without any 3rd party program but I must be remembering it wrong.
Posted by: msaeger

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 02:12

Yeah I was right I though the SA series 2 could do this already. I tried it when it was released and the forgot about it. The big drawback is the files have to be mpeg2.
Posted by: loren

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 13:31

Okay, I'm confused... I've got a hacked Series 2 DirecTivo with 4.0.1b on it. Will this work?
Posted by: SE_Sport_Driver

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 13:45

Quote:
Okay, I'm confused... I've got a hacked Series 2 DirecTivo with 4.0.1b on it. Will this work?


And do the files need to be MPEG2? I noticed Rob said he was able to play a XviD file, but I'm not familiar with that...

Either way, I might wait a month or so until the software matures, sounds promising though!
Posted by: robricc

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 14:01

I think the newer releases will take VOBs, AVIs, and MPEGs. The only format I haven't tried was VOB.
Posted by: JrFaust

Re: Getting video onto your TiVo the easy way (TivoServer) - 10/02/2006 16:33

Those of you that want to transfer unencrypted videos to your SA2 Tivo check out this thread Super Patch. I don't have any SA2 Tivos so I'm not sure on the specifics of hacking those units, but I'd guess that it's much easyer to hack than my R10 units were. I did learn all I needed to know to hack my units on that website so they should be able to help you out.

Oh one side note they can get rude there if you don't check the FAQ and use the search before asking questions.

I havn't used the Tivo Server yet I'm kind-of waiting to see if they can script an automated way to push or pull the Now Viewing to the server, but it's still a great idea.