# Can I Stream Tivo recordings to my Mac?



## electronymous (Mar 4, 2009)

Hi All,

I wanted to know if it was possible to Stream shows that are on the Tivo to my iMac. I have Toast with Tivo Desktop but, as you know, that can take a while to transfer. I just want to be able to watch the recordings from the Tivo on the computer without having to transfer them.


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## JoeTaxpayer (Dec 23, 2008)

No.


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## Yoav (Jan 13, 2007)

Well, that mostly depends on what you mean.
Proper streaming. No (it will not set up a stream server and support things like fast forward/rewind).

However, you CAN view it while it's downloading (explaining using iTiVo and VLC):

iTiVo: http://code.google.com/p/itivo/
VLC: http://www.videolan.org/vlc/download-macosx.html
Open up iTiVo, click 'prefs', and under format, select 'decrypt' (none of the other formats will work for this). Select a download location like your desktop. Do NOT select 'create subdirectories for show'.

Ok, now pick a show, and click 'download show'. A new .mpg file should show up on your desktop. This file is NOT playable in quicktime, so don't try. Instead, open up that file with VLC. Start playing it. As long as you are downloading faster than the playing happens, you will be able to watch, pause, rewind, and FF. If you download slower, it will end up 'hitting the end of the movie' and you'll need to wait some.

When you are done viewing, delete the file. Voila...


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## electronymous (Mar 4, 2009)

Thanks guys!


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## JoeTaxpayer (Dec 23, 2008)

electronymous said:


> Thanks guys!


My Appologies, Yoav's answer was really helpful. Even though the file has to load to the Mac, his method lets you start the viewing real time. The TiVo to Go doesn't quite work that way. Next time, I'll stand by for an answer. My 'No' wasn't quite right, and I learned something as well.


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## volcs0 (Oct 18, 2002)

Sure - easy.

Just use Plex media server. Download the free Tivo plugin - it works flawlessly.

Get Plex here

Information on the Tivo plugin


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## Ubipa (Apr 22, 2007)

update... the plugin mentioned, currently, only works with Plex 0.8.1. Also HD recordings have an audio sync issue. The audio plays way ahead of the video.

I really like Plex and would love to see the plugin work completely.


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