# "Not Authorized"



## jncraig (Feb 13, 2005)

I can transfer files from my Tivo to my PC with no problem. But ... when I try playing the files, I get a message that I'm not authorized to view the file.

I absolutely have the right media access key and playback password.

I'm downloading the files to computer A but playing back on computer B (connected to the network) using Microsoft Media Player 10.

Any ideas?


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## billb914 (Jan 3, 2005)

you did install the tivo desktop (or at least the dll that allows for the tivo decoding) on the second pc, right?


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## jncraig (Feb 13, 2005)

Yep!

(must the server actually be running at the time you playback?)


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## rainwater (Sep 21, 2004)

jncraig said:


> Yep!
> 
> (must the server actually be running at the time you playback?)


No, but you should re-enter your MAK and playback password in the Tivo Desktop app. It is probably either wrong or was never entered.


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## jncraig (Feb 13, 2005)

The error message says that the program was transferred using a different media access key than is in my Windows account. But ... I can transfer to either machine and that would seem to indicate that I've got the key right on both machines, no? And ... there's only one key ...


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## jncraig (Feb 13, 2005)

I've re-entered the MAK and playback password several times. To no avail ...


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## Wildwood72 (Feb 15, 2005)

I had been getting that same message - I tried re-entering the MAK and a playback password, tried re-installing the Desktop, tried uninstalling Tivo Desktop and deleting everything Tivo from my registry, tried just transferring shows through web access, tried creating a new user and installing Tivo Desktop for that user... 

It's been 2 weeks. What finally worked is letting Tivo Desktop install and set up the folder for transfers to the default location (C drive). 

I have a much emptier second hard-drive, which I had previously directed Tivo Desktop to use for the transfers, but that seems to be a problem on my system (XP home, SP 2). Even now that I can get a (new) transfer to play on my C drive, if I move it to my secondary hard drive, it won't play. Also, files that I had previously transferred directly from the Tivo to my second hard drive will still not play even if I move them to the C drive. 

Looks like I'll have to somehow clear space on the C drive. 

Thanks to everyone who posts on this forum - I've only ever been lurking, but you guys kept me going. It was another post here that made me try installing to the default location... 

Not sure how this might apply to your situation, but I hope it helps someone!


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## impster (Feb 20, 2005)

Wildwood72 said:


> I have a much emptier second hard-drive, which I had previously directed Tivo Desktop to use for the transfers, but that seems to be a problem on my system (XP home, SP 2). Even now that I can get a (new) transfer to play on my C drive, if I move it to my secondary hard drive, it won't play. Also, files that I had previously transferred directly from the Tivo to my second hard drive will still not play even if I move them to the C drive.
> 
> Looks like I'll have to somehow clear space on the C drive.


I've had the same problems with the "invalid MAK" errors... video will play for a bit, then pop up the error and stop.

I am in the middle of repartitioning my split hard rive (small-ish OS partition with huge data partition) in an attempt to second this as a fix. I'll reply here with the results 

(fingers crossed)
Gotta get Stargate onto DVD before I run out of Tivo space...

Imp


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## impster (Feb 20, 2005)

Well, nuking the Win XP Pro install and reinstalling everything on a single partition, with the default file locations resulted in the exact same problem.

1) repartition/format drive as NTFS
2) install XP Pro, drivers, get all updates (SP2)
3) install cyberlink PowerDVD v6 (DVD playback verified)
4) install Tivo Desktop v2.0 (default locations, type in MAK and password)
5) transfer a recording over
6) play recording via play button in Tivo Desktop
7) 14 seconds into video, informs me that the MAK doesn't match

I used to be able to get about 15mins into the playback before getting the MAK doesn't match error, now it's even worse. So I did some more...

8) Re-enter MAK and password in Tivo Desktop... same problem
9) created a new user and re-install all software... same problem

I'm giving up until an acual fix for the error is posted or an update from Tivo comes down the line. bleh.

Imp


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## jncraig (Feb 13, 2005)

I deleted the Tivo desktop, reinstalled it, used the standard file folders, and then downloaded several programs from my Tivo. When played, each of the programs showed the "not authorized" message.

Oh ... when I reinstalled Tivo Desktop, it said that I didn't have a codec ... but I certainly do. Is it possible that this error is codec dependent? That would seem odd ...


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## agnOstos (Jan 19, 2005)

I had that problem when I was going to the tivo site to retrieve my MAK. I would copy and then paste and it wouldn't work. When I actually typed what was on the tivo site it worked just fine. It seemed to me the tivo site had an extra hidden character or something in it when I was trying to copy and paste it. /me shrugs


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

I am getting this as well. Shows downloaded on one pc will not play back on another.


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## freeagent21 (Feb 21, 2005)

I'm in the same boat. I get the following error with Windows XP Pro:

"You are not authorized to play this recording. It was transferred using a different media access key than the one in your Windows account. For help, see the application you used to transfer the TiVO recording from your TiVO DVR."

I've removed the desktop software re-entered the MAK all with no luck. This is actually the only post that I've been able to find that has outlined this issue.


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## tytooluser (Feb 22, 2005)

Yep, I'm getting the same error message. I've tried all of the same things, and I'm running XP SP1. 

Is anyone from TiVo going to address this issue, since it seems to be effecting a growing number of people?


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## mgar (Feb 14, 2005)

I get the same message intermittently. Usually if I reboot the problem will go away for a while. Also, the initial load time into WMP takes a long time (approx. 10 min. for a 30 min show).


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## Flappjakk (Feb 22, 2005)

This is happening to me too. I don't want to copy all this crap to my C drive. Does TiVo acknowledge this problem?


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## robertgp124 (Mar 15, 2004)

I have been battling this problem. I went through a long troubleshooting process with Tivo. I finally got hold of another computer having done virtually everything that was outlined above (remove Tivo Desktop, reinstall Desktop, reinstall Windows, change router, change wireless adapter on Tivo, get Tivo to issue new MAK, etc). When I got a different computer and started from scratch, that seemed to work.

I am suspicious that there is a problem with my ethernet card or a setting with the card that is causing a corruption in the transfer. I am going to work with this problem this evening and see.

I am sympathetic to Tivo in this instance because this issue with the MAK key seems rather odd and unpredictable. I think it is something oddball with the ethernet card because I had an issue with downloaded software (MyDVD) claiming a corruption.

I'm going to move the file from the one computer to the other now and see if it will play there as well.


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## robertgp124 (Mar 15, 2004)

When I transferred the show using a different computer, I was able to successfully watch the show on my original machine. I'm checking now and transferring another program to see if using a different ethernet card on the original machine I had trouble with will do the trick.


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## Flappjakk (Feb 22, 2005)

Not only is this a problem for me during playback, but if I try to burn the movie to DVD using the Sonic Trial, it gets started with its process then gives the same error message. Luckily it didn't start burning the DVD then give up. I've also tried converting the .tivo file to a .mpg file, which yeilds the same results. 

It looks like using the default location for transfers worked for one guy, then didn't for another, has anyone else tried doing this? If so can you post your results?


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## MikeMar (Jan 7, 2005)

If you can't watch the show, you can't burn w/ Sonic, it asks you for your playback password once each time it's loaded up. So if you can't watch it, you can't burn it.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

I am getting trhe same problem on some files but not all files

anyone call TiVo support yet ?


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## hawk4hire (Jan 20, 2004)

I have the same problem on some files and I called in. I was told this must be my Tivo or my computer is set up wrong. 
So I hope enough people will call in and report this new "feature". 
I havent had this problem on my laptop - but everything is on one drive. 
I certainly hope Tivo Beta's Desktop 2.0 better than they did 7.x (no offense to any testers out there I am quite sure you did what you were assigned to do.)
Is it me or are there more "features" sneaking out as time goes by? 
1. Pixels
2. Possessed remote controls
3. MAK's that exist but dont exist...
4. ????? whats next 

jmho
hawk


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## mgar (Feb 14, 2005)

mgar said:


> I get the same message intermittently. Usually if I reboot the problem will go away for a while. Also, the initial load time into WMP takes a long time (approx. 10 min. for a 30 min show).


Problem solved  I replaced my old version of WinDVD with the K-Lite codec. This solved all the problems I was having. I dont know what version of WinDVD I had installed, but it was a couple of years old.

WMP 10 still doesnt fast forward during playback. I tried the Core Media Player. It works much better on my computer than WMP 10. The arrow keys work for fast forward and rewind. BTW, I have an older computer (500 MHz PIII).


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## Flappjakk (Feb 22, 2005)

I tried your solution mgar but no luck. I am not transfering the files to the default directory that the TiVo desktop sets up, and I wonder if that is the problem. I installed all this stuff on my laptop, which is also quite old, and using the K-lite codec with WMP10, XP SP 2 it works fine.

This is really starting to piss me off. If I can't copy these files off to my desktop computer, having TiVoToGo is no better than not having it.


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## ilmickeyli (Jan 27, 2003)

same problem here. sonic will burn some files without this error but others i get the error..

lame


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## tanzbodeli (Jun 12, 2003)

I installed TiVo desktop on computer A. Then transferred several shows to Computer A from my Tivo. I was able to watch the shows on Computer A with no problems.

Then I installed Tivo Desktop on Computer B. I entered the same MAK and playback password during installation. The installation warned me I didn't have the right codec, so I installed the same DVD playback software on Computer B, that Computer A has. I restarted the computer. Then I tried playing back programs that Computer A downloaded (remotely, and copied to Comp B's drive). Both times I got the same message that

"You are not authorized to play this recording. It was transferred using a different media access key than the one in your Windows account"

Furthermore, I can't even use TiVo desktop to connect to my DVR, it basically says my MAK is not correct. So re-entered it again and same thing.

Here's to hoping this gets fixed.

Chris


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## tytooluser (Feb 22, 2005)

Seriously, is there anyone from TiVo monitoring this thread?


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

Note there are at least three different problems people are talking about in this thread, so solutions for one are not likely to be solutions for another.
1. Some people are always getting "Invalid MAK" reported. That's a setup problem.
2. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" for some files and not others
3. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" halfway into some files.

My suspicion is that (3), and possibly some of (2), are actually not MAK problems. My guess is that "Invalid MAK" is being reported anytime that the .tivo filter can't decipher the video stream. A bad MAK could be one reason for that, but so could corruption of the data file, either on transmission or storage onto the PC hard disk (especially possible when storing onto external USB disks).

This would explain why some people and not others can "fix" the problem by copying the file into a different location; it's the copying or retransmission, not the location, that's the cure. (Lot's of people are running the their setup in non-default locations without problems).


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## Uniden900 (Dec 9, 2004)

same boat, same problem... "invalid Mak" usually in the middle of the movie and during the middle of a conversion.. I start doing some work to fix it and keep everyone posted.


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## scrappydog65 (Dec 29, 2003)

I've been having the same "You are not authorized to play this recording" on a sporadic basis. Usually it happens if I'm tyring to convert the file and/or burn it to CD (via Sonic). Once it happens in GraphEdit or Sonic, MediaPlayer also starts reporting the same error. If I shut everything down, MediaPlayer will work but the error may or may not come back in the other programs. For example, I just got through converting a 3.5hr Grammy's recording to an MPEG with no problem. Without restarting or even closing the GraphEdit program I tried the same thing on another shorter .Tivo file and the error appeared within a few minutes. 

I also remember getting this error on my laptop the first time I installed the TivoDesktop. It went away after rebooting.

My OS is Win2K and I have 2 drives. Interestingly, the Grammy's .TIVO file I converted was on my D: drive (not the normal Tivo Recordings Directory). The file that failed was in the Tivo Recordings Directory. I also want to add that up until today I had been unable to convert the Grammy's file because of this error message. I really have no idea why it worked this time.

From what I've seen my best guess for a likely cause would be Codec related, but I don't think it's only the Codec that is a problem. Based on today's experiences I would have to say that there are other factors that create this issue.

Mike


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## Uniden900 (Dec 9, 2004)

Uniden900 said:


> same boat, same problem... "invalid Mak" usually in the middle of the movie and during the middle of a conversion.. I start doing some work to fix it and keep everyone posted.


This worked for me:

Well I resolved my problem, surprisingly. First thing I did was uninstall and then reinstall Tivo Desktop. During the installation I read in a previous post before this one that they manually typed the MAK instead of just copy\pasted it in. I wrote the MAK down off my tivo info screen and manually typed it in.

After installation, I tried to play my already downloaded videos and they wouldn't play at all, displaying the invalid MAK warning immediately. I considered this a good sign in that something had atleast changed for sure. I quickly deleted my downloaded copies and re-downloaded my Tivo recordings. The plan worked good, they play with no problem and with no MAK problems.

Now I'm just going through a host of problems trying to get the darn things on as a playable DVD. Gotten pretty far but hit about 500 road blocks.


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

CrispyCritter said:


> Note there are at least three different problems people are talking about in this thread, so solutions for one are not likely to be solutions for another.
> 1. Some people are always getting "Invalid MAK" reported. That's a setup problem.
> 2. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" for some files and not others
> 3. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" halfway into some files.


4. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" when playing a file that was transfered using a different PC.

In my case, I transferred several shows to a network drive. These shows playback fine on the original PC(PC A). But if they are manually copied to another PC (PC B) they fail to play after a few minutes into the show. I have been able to correct this by transferring the show directly from the PC I want to view the show on, but it's a pain since I need to be able to delete the shows on the Tivo at some point and if this behavior continues when I upgrade my PC all of my shows will be unplayable since the PC will be different.


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## CrispyCritter (Feb 28, 2001)

Stormspace said:


> 4. Some people are getting "Invalid MAK" when playing a file that was transfered using a different PC.
> 
> In my case, I transferred several shows to a network drive. These shows playback fine on the original PC(PC A). But if they are manually copied to another PC (PC B) they fail to play after a few minutes into the show. I have been able to correct this by transferring the show directly from the PC I want to view the show on, but it's a pain since I need to be able to delete the shows on the Tivo at some point and if this behavior continues when I upgrade my PC all of my shows will be unplayable since the PC will be different.


I did say "at least" three  .

I was wondering if you tried to see if the problem files were identical on PC B and PC A? Doing an "md5sum" should be fairly easy.


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## photon209 (Mar 17, 2005)

Count me in on having this issue, also.

I haven't tried an uninstall/reinstall.
I did change the default storage location from C:

Getting the same popup indicating a MAK problem.

Does TiVo monitor this forum?

-ed


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## macarlisle (Feb 10, 2005)

They don't the way that they should. It's mostly for users to communicate with each other and try to fix each others issues, It seems. Just my opinion.


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## ZeoTiVo (Jan 2, 2004)

I have stopped getting the invlaid MAK on mine.
For me it was a load on the PC issue. If I had a program transcoding some mpg files to avi then I randomly got the invalid MAK when .. uumm.. making more mpg files. That fits with the "if the video stream gets garbled it errors as a MAK problem no matter the casue"

also if I was making some mpg files and goofed and picked one that was still transferring I got the same invalid MAK error. that solution was obvious- wait for the transfer to be done.


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## andyf (Feb 23, 2000)

tanzbodeli said:


> I installed TiVo desktop on computer A. Then transferred several shows to Computer A from my Tivo. I was able to watch the shows on Computer A with no problems.
> 
> Then I installed Tivo Desktop on Computer B. I entered the same MAK and playback password during installation. The installation warned me I didn't have the right codec, so I installed the same DVD playback software on Computer B, that Computer A has. I restarted the computer. Then I tried playing back programs that Computer A downloaded (remotely, and copied to Comp B's drive). Both times I got the same message that
> 
> ...


Does anyone think that downloading a show on one computer that can't be played back on another is as designed. To prevent someone from downloading a show and giving it to a buddy to watch on his computer?


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## sgunther (Dec 13, 2004)

I am receiving the following;

_"Error
You are not authorized to play this recording. It was transferred using a different media access key than the one in your Windows account.

For help, see the application you used to transfer the TiVo recording from your TiVo DVR."

I tried the following to resolv the issue;
_​
Manually Key The MAK
Re-Load the TiVo Software
Clean Load a Windows XP Box (SP2, WMP10)

I noticed tha the show always stopped at the exact same place.

If I re-transfered the show it would stop again. Each time it would stop it would be in the same place.

Same results with either the Desktop 2.0 software or the web interface.

So.....

I called TiVo and talked with "Level 2" tech support. They basically stated that this is a known issue. It would appear to be a glitch in the transfer that is generated on the TiVo box (Not The Client!). They went on to say that there is going to be a new version of the Desktop software with an integrated codec, and media player. In this version the player will compensate and ignore these TiVo generated glitches and hence you can continue to play the files.

I don't know that this is a good solution (kludge) but at least TiVo is working on a workaround.

If anyone has heard any other news please post a reply.

-Steve


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## derlenbusch (Jul 17, 2004)

OMG, 
I have done all this as well, and my SG1 shows are shot. I can't burn them to DVD using MYDVD. same error.
I read in another thread that Tivo does know about this and is working on the issue, but who knows how long that will take.


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## slimjim8094 (Jan 15, 2006)

Who'da thunk it.
Right, so I had the same problem. It wouldn't even start to play before it would start to b*tch. So, I transferred it locally (from a server) which didn't finish properly. Then I copied it to the Tivo Desktop directory. Still nothing. So, I open Tivo Desktop, select the recording, and hit play. You're sh*tting me, it works. Went back to the directory, and it didn't work. Went back to the Tivo Desktop, and it crashed. Oh well, it worked once, it'll work again.

You know, it really pisses me off when companies ($ony, Tivo, M$, ...) treat their users like crooks. Fact is, it doesn't stop anything. If anybody wants to get a program, they won't crack DRM, they'll use LimeWire. And, for legit users, it's a PITA. And if I can't watch what I have recorded, I'll get it another way. Consumers hold all the power. 

Screw DRM


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## Stormspace (Apr 13, 2004)

andyf said:


> Does anyone think that downloading a show on one computer that can't be played back on another is as designed. To prevent someone from downloading a show and giving it to a buddy to watch on his computer?


I complained about this over a year ago and when I called TiVo about it the clueless CSR on the phone assumed that I was trying to pirate the show, when in fact all I was doing was trying to move an autotransferred show from a server to my laptop to take it on the road. I even spoke with a manager who I mistook for TivoPony because of the simialities in names and he told me there was nothing they could do about it, it was designed into the software to do just that. He was clueless as well.

I second the opinion that DRM sucks, but what sucks more is a company that buries it's head in the sand and refuses to address legitimate issues. :down: :down: :down:


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