# Trouble transfering from PC to TiVo.



## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

I have 7.2 on the TiVo.
2.2 on the PC.
XP pro sp2

When I go into now playing I see the PC and all the shows, but when I try to transfer I keep getting a file not found error. Any thoughts?


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

Temporarily disable the software firewall on your PC and see if that clears it up.


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## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

Turning off the fairewall makes no difference


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

My only other suggestions then relate to the type of files you're using... Try working with .tivo files first to ensure the function is working. Some of my .mpegs don't start to transfer or complete transferring. Some research in other threads suggest the audio and/or bitrate could impact Tivo's ability to handle certain files.


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## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

Looks like that was the problem.... Thanks.


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## ChristheC (Feb 22, 2005)

davezatz said:


> My only other suggestions then relate to the type of files you're using... Try working with .tivo files first to ensure the function is working. Some of my .mpegs don't start to transfer or complete transferring. Some research in other threads suggest the audio and/or bitrate could impact Tivo's ability to handle certain files.


Yea, what he says.

If you don't have a .tivo file on your pc, send a short one from the TiVo to the pc then back again. Assuming it transfers both ways ok, then you can go on to testing with outside source .mpg's.

Work & test with small files as much as you can FandL.

Some work, some don't. I haven't done any _serious_ testing yet but . . .

some of my problem mpegs I _have_ gotten to transfer to the TiVo if I demux/remux them.

davezatz, I'm not sure if resolution / bitrate / audio specs are going to turn out to be the problem with "some work, some don't". It may be something else in the headers.

I have tons of .mpg's on my pc drive transferred from ReplayTV. These have a success rate of less than 50% going to TiVo (but these mpegs are not very compliant anyway).

DVD rips, .VOB file re-names, & captures from a Pinnacle PCTV Deluxe I have seem to be successful most of the time.


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

Im having same problem as the op

i have same setup

have sent a small .tivo file from tivo to pc and back but cannot send converted mpeg2 from avi to tivo unit, any ideas?

Summary:
Duration:	01:29:07
Bit rate: 2200kbps
Video:
Format: mpeg2video
Size: 640x480
Frame rate:	29.97fps
Audio:
Format: mp2
Bit rate: 192kbps
Sample rate:	44100Hz
Channels:	Mono

using imTOO AVI MPEG converter


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## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

TiVo lists the official specs that are acceptable at this URL:

http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv251080.htm

640X480 is not a supported resolution.

Any files I have converted to these specs seem to transfer just fine.


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## funkdaddy (Jul 19, 2005)

320x240 works too...


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## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

Good to know. Thanks.


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

So it gives a file not found error because I had it at 640 x 480?


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## DrDravenStone (Aug 30, 2003)

Same thing here...
I can get all the .tivo's to go back and forth, but not a single .mpg file will transfer (thus far)....


sigh.


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## azitnay (Jan 20, 2003)

Max_Power said:


> So it gives a file not found error because I had it at 640 x 480?


Yeah, the file not found error really doesn't always mean file not found... You'll also get it when attepting a transfer of an incompatble file.

Drew


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

well i re-encoded and it still gives the ol' file not found error

Summary:
Duration:	01:29:08
Bit rate: 2200kbps
Video:
Format: mpeg2video
Size: 704x480
Frame rate:	29.97fps
Audio:
Format: mp2
Bit rate: 192kbps
Sample rate:	44100Hz
Channels:	Mono


any more ideas? am able to transfer back and forth as well as stream music


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## FandL (Feb 20, 2005)

Your audio rate could be the problem. The file not found message seems to be a catch all.

Once I have recoded to one of TiVo's approved formats, I have had no problems.

I can tell you Nero, does not export a compatible file.


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## d4jaj1 (Dec 27, 2004)

> I can tell you Nero, does not export a compatible file.


Why do you say that? I'm getting the same error of file not found (doesn't even begin transfer). Also, the Tivo it doesn't show the duration of teh file - but it plays perfectly on my computer.

I followed the specs exactly as on the Tivo site for supported formats, even reimported the mpg into Nero to ensure it met those standards. The only files that will transfer and\or play are .tivo files.

any suggestions?


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

I just got home media setup and have sucessfully transferred files from my TiVo to my PC. From this thread, it seems there is a way to transfer from PC to TiVo. Is there a FAQ or some such that will help me get started on this?
Any information would be appreciated.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

There are a few other threads on the forum documenting some of the features and tools to use. I also started a faq/tutorial at www.zatznotfunny.com/gtt.htm.


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

Thanks.
I'll try it out when I get home tonight.


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## DrDravenStone (Aug 30, 2003)

I was able to get an MPG to transfer, but I did have to re-encode it.
Since I'm at work, I don't remember the exact size I used, but it definately seemed to be the resolution that was causing the error.

I know it's a new feature, and the tivo even warns you that certain files may have problems with transfer and/or playback but a file was not found error is really a horrible catch all message, jeez... even something like an unspefied error has occured would be better then being told something concrete that is wrong.

SO, now I guess I need to figure out what the best and fastest transcoder (and settings!) is out there cause this is a feature I have been waiting for for a LONG time, and it's fantastic to have it.


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

Do you have a suggested bitrate to try because http://customersupport.tivo.com/knowbase/root/public/tv251080.htm

doesnt really say anything other than mpeg-1 layer 2 which is what i used


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## HDTiVo (Nov 27, 2002)

[email protected]


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

thanks for all the help so far, I tried it with the [email protected] and didnt work. I really dont know what else to try


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

So, it looks like I have to convert my AVI file to MPEG format - okay. According to www.zatznotfunny.com/gtt.htm (thanks, btw) I can use VLC (which I have).
So far, so good.
I quickly figured out that there is no easy "convert to MPEG" command but that you must stream the entire video to an MPEG. I can live with that - I can make the time.
What has blown my mind are the number of settings for the stream output function!
I'm assuming I select output to file, but then I get confused.
TivoToGo needs MPEG2, but I don't see that setting. I see three different MPEG settings for the encapsulation method (MPEG TS, MPEG PS and MPEG 1) as well as Video and Audio Transcoding options. I see some optins for video codecs, but once again, MPEG2 is not there and I have no idea what audio codec to use. Once I select whatever video and audio codec I need, I then need to set a bitrate and Scale/Channels for Audio and Video, but I don't know what numbers to use. There were some suggestions in this thread for bitrate, but they also involved a KHz setting, which I don't have at all.
Sorry for all the newbie questions, but I'm realy trying to get this to work.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

On my "Demos" page I link to Galleon's Flash tutorial of VLC. It's pretty straight forward once you watch his nice walk-through. Also for reference the range for many settings are on the Tivo support page I link to. I'd put it all in this post for you now, but I'm on my way out.


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

Used VLC and followed the tutorial
was able to get the file to actaully transfer to my tivo however file would not play (listed as having 00:00 duration) on my tivo or pc


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## spyhunter (Feb 1, 2003)

I can export an .mpg from Nero, transfer and play on TiVo with no problems, however when I try to tell TiVo to save an .mpg 'Until I Delete' or anytime longer than the default time, I get error #86 on TiVo.

Is this a limitation that TiVo currently has and everybody is getting this, or is Nero making a bum .mpg?

I wish there was folder support because this is going to be a nightmare to organize these .mpgs on TiVo, also you can transfer the same one over and over again, which is kind of weird.

It would be nice if we could publish and stream .mpgs instead so that we are not filling up the HD on TiVo, but streaming 720x480 appears to be more than a strain on a home network, maybe if they made restrictions on the size of an .mpg to stream it may work? hmm...

SH


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

davezatz said:


> On my "Demos" page I link to Galleon's Flash tutorial of VLC. It's pretty straight forward once you watch his nice walk-through. Also for reference the range for many settings are on the Tivo support page I link to. I'd put it all in this post for you now, but I'm on my way out.


Wow - what a freakishly cool demo page! Thanks.
I'm trying a conversion right now. What a pleasant surprise that it's faster than real time.

---------------------

Well, the conversion is done and I have more problems. Sheesh.
I tried to test the MPG file I created by opening it with VLC and got only an audio track. What happened? I followd the demo exactly but just MPGA for the audio Codec as the directions were vague. Since the audio was the only part that did come through, I assume I at least did that part right.
I found out that the aspect ratio of the file is 368x208 - apparently not one of TiVo's support ratios. How can I change it to an acceptable ratio?
In either case, I put the file in the My Tivo Recordings folder and nothing showed up in Now Showing - presumably because the conversion didn't work.

-----------------------

I've tried a few more conversions and everytime I get audio but no video on my pc. Still can't transfer to TiVo unit. Checked Firewall settings and all TiVo Apps are allowed. Once I get the conversion working, I'm hoping that TiVo will just transfer the file gratis.


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

spyhunter said:


> I get error #86 on TiVo.
> 
> Is this a limitation that TiVo currently has and everybody is getting this, or is Nero making a bum .mpg?


Do you use a WG111 wireless adaptor? So far it seems like this error occurs when working with MPEGs and that particular adapter...


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## spyhunter (Feb 1, 2003)

Nope, I have Linksys' USB200M...

It seems odd that a network adapter could cause this though, since the file is there and plays, it just won't KUID...

SH


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## Max_Power (Mar 23, 2005)

i had the same errors with VLC but found they were fixed when i used TMPGenc. Works now, thanks

just need to find optimal settings now


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

spyhunter said:


> Nope, I have Linksys' USB200M... It seems odd that a network adapter could cause this though, since the file is there and plays, it just won't KUID...


Perhaps the two glitches are not related. I've been getting Message 86 when transfering things to/from, viewing info as you did, and the Tivo drops my network connection and the adapter starts blinking wildly. Sometimes a reboot fixes it and sometimes manually removing and reinserting the adaptor fixes things. I've been using my MA111 from my "backup" Tivo until the WG111 is reliable again on my unit...

In regards to the posts about some mpegs working and others not, it seems the Tivo isn't very fault tolerant... most likely candidates are the audio tracks or the bitrate, but I don't feel like we've locked it down yet. The error messages aren't very helpful, such as file not found. I'm hoping since this is just the first rev of the feature, we'll see wider/better support next time around. :up:


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## azitnay (Jan 20, 2003)

I believe Message 86 is a pretty generic error code, and not specific to any one error.

As for the KUID problem, AFAIK everyone is getting it (i.e. no one's been able to KUID an MPEG). I'm not completely sure, though... I don't think I've ever tried it (there's little point in KUID'ing something when you have 100+ suggestions ). I'll try tonight and see if I also get 86'ed.

Drew


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## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

I've transferred several mpegs I've created and set KUID on them. I've also gotten the error preventing KUID on several others. So I can say it is possible, but I can't say it's reliable. One thing to test for, which I'll do when I get the time, is trying to set it while transferring vs. trying to set it after the transfer has completed (ie when it appears as just another entry in the now playing list).


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## davezatz (Apr 18, 2002)

gonzotek said:


> trying to set it while transferring vs. trying to set it after the transfer has completed (ie when it appears as just another entry in the now playing list).


I have noticed, but not precisely documented, that the Tivo is much more um sensitive to viewing info, setting KUID, etc _while a transfer is in progress_. I assume the Tivo engineering team must be working this issue, since it's pretty common and repeatable.


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## spyhunter (Feb 1, 2003)

Keep Until is not available until a file has fully transferred, similar to when a show is recording.

Gonzotek, do you know if there are any differences between the mpegs that KUID and ones that won't?

This is probably something that Nero is doing to my mpeg, since it is pretty silly to be able to transfer it, but then not keep it past a few days, don't think the engineers had this in mind, or the TiVo would simply not allow this option or say that it can't be done rather than displaying a catch all error code.

SH


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## azitnay (Jan 20, 2003)

No luck for me... I tried all four MPEG-2's I had lying around that I knew would transfer, and they all 86'ed.

Drew


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## gonzotek (Sep 24, 2004)

spyhunter said:


> Keep Until is not available until a file has fully transferred, similar to when a show is recording.
> 
> Gonzotek, do you know if there are any differences between the mpegs that KUID and ones that won't?
> 
> ...


Lately, I've been using gui4ffmpeg(which is basically ffmpeg with some more-or-less sane presets and a loader/saver gui), and it seems that TiVo has no trouble working with these files whatsoever. I've tried to take the raw output from the dvd-shrink method, and most discs I've done via that method have worked, but one special edition had an abnormally high bitrate and refused to transfer. Before I got comfortable with ffmpeg(and to a lesser extent dvd shrink) I tried several other programs (which oddly enough cost money and were slower and yielded lower quality with default settings) and it was among those that I noticed the KUID problem. I have a few files I need to load into my unit tonight or tomorrow, so while I'm at it, I'll try a few different things and see what results in success or error.


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## jspudz (Feb 17, 2005)

Just curious if anyone is still seeing this issue, and if anyone has found a work around. I have been getting a message #86 while trying to do a KUID on any mpeg's i transfer to the tivo. 

This is driving me crazy. I have converted movies to vob's, vob to mpg, using nero, gui4ffmpeg, flask, and tmpgenc all will convert just fine and play great on the tivo. I just can not set it to kuid. 

Also what is everyone using to transfer back to the tivo? Galleon or tivo desktop 2.2? I am currently using the tivo desktop 2.2 and have no luck setting a kuid on a mpeg.


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

I'm still having trouble, but I haven't tried since the TMPEGenc fiasco (huge file that took hours to make and didn't work).
My problem was that the formats that TiVo listed never seemed to show up in any video encoding software I used (at last not in anything close to a same or recognizable name) and I don't have any audio/video format experience.
At this point, I think I'm waiting for someone to just write a program specifically for encoding media files to TiVo acceptable formats. Heck, I'd even pony up shareware money for it.


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## dwgsp (Aug 28, 2005)

I'm also having the #86 problem. Even worse, since I didn't save copies the files on my computer I tried to copy them back and that also does not work. The transfer dies after only a few seconds. Argh!


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## Christoph23 (Oct 24, 2005)

zigmo said:


> I've tried a few more conversions and everytime I get audio but no video on my pc. Still can't transfer to TiVo unit. Checked Firewall settings and all TiVo Apps are allowed. Once I get the conversion working, I'm hoping that TiVo will just transfer the file gratis.


I followed the demo and this is what I got as well - only audio, no video whatsoever. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've tried several pieces of software (VLC, Nero Vision, Sonic MyDVD, TMPGEnc) but none of them were able to convert it to a format that I could transfer to the TiVo. They all (with the exception of VLC which only provided audio) converted the file from AVI to MPG fine enough. I just couldn't subsequently get them onto my DVR. 

Has anyone successfully converted AVIs to MPGs such that they were able to transfer from the PC and play on the TiVo? If so, what did you use? What were the exact steps you took, settings you specified, etc...

thnx,
Christoph


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## hot304tee (Jan 24, 2005)

Christoph23 said:


> I followed the demo and this is what I got as well - only audio, no video whatsoever. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong. I've tried several pieces of software (VLC, Nero Vision, Sonic MyDVD, TMPGEnc) but none of them were able to convert it to a format that I could transfer to the TiVo. They all (with the exception of VLC which only provided audio) converted the file from AVI to MPG fine enough. I just couldn't subsequently get them onto my DVR.
> 
> Has anyone successfully converted AVIs to MPGs such that they were able to transfer from the PC and play on the TiVo? If so, what did you use? What were the exact steps you took, settings you specified, etc...
> 
> ...


I'm pretty much having the same luck as our buddy Christoph here, can somebody please shed some light on the subject of how to convert files already on your pc and send them to your tivo.


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## mike522 (Oct 12, 2005)

Christoph23 said:


> Has anyone successfully converted AVIs to MPGs such that they were able to transfer from the PC and play on the TiVo? If so, what did you use? What were the exact steps you took, settings you specified, etc...


I am still figuring this out also as I only got my WG111 adapter to work recently with the 7.2.1 software.

I've had luck with "WinAVI Video Converter" (http://www.winavi.com). I set it to output in MPEG-2 format and most files transfer to Tivo okay.

I say "most" because I am running into another problem which I think is once again related to the WG111 adapter. When transferring using the WG111, most files do not finish transferring because of a "file size" error. If they do transfer, they usually do this weird thing where the show runs for 2-5min. then restarts at the beginning. However, (knock on wood), I can transfer these MPGs okay using a wired adapter, so I don't think it's an MPEG problem.

Mike


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## zigmo (Dec 23, 2004)

Anyone that hasn't tried it, I strongly concur with the WinAVI suggestion. Nothing worked for me until I tried that. So far, three videos have transferred flawlessly. I'm currently having a problem with one video that I thought I'd ask about.
In short: all the same auto settings which worked for the other three and, when done, the file play perfectly on the computer. After transfer, the audio is fine, but there are lines across the video. I've tried converting the file multipel times with pretty much every MPEG-2 setting that's available. Everytime, perfect on PC, but garbled on TiVo.
I can provide exact details, if necessary.
Any suggestions?


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## trelynda (Jan 18, 2007)

Hi,

I recently purchased an episode of Harper's Island that I missed and wanted to transfer it to my tivo to watch. I have placed the episode into the my tivo recordings folder and it shows up on my pc. When i select it to transfer, it begins, turns blue and then on my computer I get a Microsoft Visual C++ Runtime Library error - program files\tivo desktop\transcoderhost.exe assertion failed. i have done this numerous times before with success. My computer is runing vista.

tivo desktop is 2.7 nothing changed that I am aware of.


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