Video queued up after Videoredo edit

[Dan Miotti]

I downloaded a .TIVO video from my Tivo. I edited out the commercials using VideoRedo (current version). When I try to upload to Tivo, all I get is that it is queued up but never transfers. The original .TIVO file uploads fine. The edited VIdeoRedo file (also a .TIVO file) does not. Tried it on 2 different Tivos. Same problem on both. I played around with the edited TIVO file and found that there are one or 2 frames that are causing this. If I manually delete these frames, the file uploads fine but it takes a LONG time to find the frames that are causing this. If I save the file to an MPG file, it also uploads fine (but metafile info lost) . Have problems with VideoRedo edited TIVO files but not all the time. Only with certain edited files.
Does anyone have an idea of how to get around this problem?

 

[Dan203]

If these are H.264 files the best way to avoid this is to enable the frame type view in the thumbnails and always make your very first cut, at the start of the file, on an IDR frame. The others can be wherever you want. TiVo is only picky about the very first frame

 

[jgrassi]

I am curious, how does one upload a file back to a Tivo. I can download files using KMTTG, but am unaware of a way to upload files back. Thanks.

 

[Dan Miotti]

First, PyTivo needs to be running. Then you go to your Tivo and "My shows". At the bottom of the list should be "My Tivo Recordings". All your videos on your PC should be listed (if you're pointing to the right folder). Select the video and download.

To Dan203 - The files I am having issues with have had the first "section/frames" removed. Actually I found the frame that caused the problem in one video and it was about 2 minutes into the video. I removed it and it worked. Don't think it has to do with just the first frame.

 

[jgrassi]

Thanks, will give it a try.

 

[Dan203]

FYI if you're going to use pyTivo I'd recommend pyTivo Desktop which is a much easier to install and setup version of pyTivo....

http://www.pytivodesktop.com

It's also written by me.

 

[Dan Miotti]

Yep, already use it and thank you, it's great!

 

[jgrassi]

Thanks for the tip and I just installed it. FYI thanks to this thread I was able to solve a technical issue with my new Arris DCX900 Tivo that replaced my T6 that recently failed. Apparently all new Arris Tivo's are shipped defaulted with everything flagged as no copy allowed. I just assumed that this is the way it was with all new Tivos. However, a tech support chat today with Tivo informed me that I had to log into my Tivo account and check a box that allows recorded file transfers. Following a reboot of the Tivo, I can now able to download recorded content again! Yea. I am putting this here in case there are other people with Arris units who are dealing with this.

BUT, the first time I went to use pyTivo, I got the following error message when I went to download a file. FYI, it downloads and decrypts perfectly with KMTTG. So what am I doing wrong when using pyTivo? Also sorry for hijacking the thread, but this issue seems relevant to original topic of Tivo downloads. If you don't think so, I can move this to a new topic.

 

[Dan203]

Thanks for the tip and I just installed it. FYI thanks to this thread I was able to solve a technical issue with my new Arris DCX900 Tivo that replaced my T6 that recently failed. Apparently all new Arris Tivo's are shipped defaulted with everything flagged as no copy allowed. I just assumed that this is the way it was with all new Tivos. However, a tech support chat today with Tivo informed me that I had to log into my Tivo account and check a box that allows recorded file transfers. Following a reboot of the Tivo, I can now able to download recorded content again! Yea. I am putting this here in case there are other people with Arris units who are dealing with this.

BUT, the first time I went to use pyTivo, I got the following error message when I went to download a file. FYI, it downloads and decrypts perfectly with KMTTG. So what am I doing wrong when using pyTivo? Also sorry for hijacking the thread, but this issue seems relevant to original topic of Tivo downloads. If you don't think so, I can move this to a new topic.

View attachment 2389

That is just a warning, not really an error. What that means is that at some point during the download the code detected errors in the TS stream. This is pretty common when downloading files from the TiVo. There is an option in the program to detect these errors and retry downloading multiple times until it gets a clean copy or one with the least number of errors. Sometimes if you download the same file over and over you'll eventually get a clean copy. Sometimes you don't but you do get one with less errors than others.

This same issue applies no matter what software you use to download files from your TiVo. As far as I know pyTivo Desktop is the only one that detects these errors and reports them so you're aware that they exist and has the ability to use this information to attempt repeated downloads of the file until it gets a clean copy.

 

[jgrassi]

Thank you again. Understand and got downloads working. But in Dan M's original reply to me, he said, "At the bottom of the list should be "My Tivo Recordings." I am obviously selecting my correct file location, yet no matter what I do, I never see my recordings show up in the pyTivo window. Help one last time please?
Just to clarify, I DO see all the recorded Tivo programs in the My Shows window, but I don't see (not sure if I should see) anything I've edited with VideoReDo, including edited files saved in the .tivo format.

 

[Dan Miotti]

I may not fully understand your question so I have two things you might want to check. To set the folder in pyTivo execute pyTivo Desktop. At the top right there is a small "gear" click that for settings. You can set the folder in the Tivo recoding folder. Did you also enter the Tivo media access key? If not, you will need it.

If you don't see if after using VideoReDo, it may be because you are putting it in another folder. Change VideoReDo to "Tools", "Options", "Favorite places".

I hope that answers your question. Sorry if I missed what you wanted.

 

[jgrassi]

I really appreciate yours and Dan H's help. I did all you and Dan H said. All I wanted to do was 1) Download a recorded Tivo program. - I can. 2) Remove commercials with VRD. - I can. 3) Upload the edited program back to my Tivo. NO success. For the last, I would assume I would be able to see my VRD edited program in the My Shows window of pyTivo. I do not. I have tried everything. If there is nothing else that I can do, no worries. I'll just go back to media sharing using Kodi. Thanks again for your attempt to help me.

 

[Dan203]

You never mentioned what version of VideoReDo you're using. Just an FYI but only v5 can output .tivo files with H.264 correctly. v4 would try, but the format was incompatible because TiVo-TS files only existed in Australia at the time v4 was developed.

 

[Dan Miotti]

Dan, I'm using 5.4.84.771. Still having issues. I do clip the first few minutes off the .tivo video file but it still queues up about 1 out of 10 times sometimes more. By playing around with a queued video I found that the offending frame may be anywhere between the 1 and 30 frames in and that's after I clipped the first few minutes off originally. Any more info that I can provide, let me know.