# TiVoToGo HELP!! -- Pushing videos to TiVo



## kevo777 (Oct 22, 2007)

I like to think I'm fairly computer saavy but this one doesn't make sense. I've got my photos and music from my PC streaming to my TiVo with no problem. It just kind of configured itself. But videos...? I place videos in my TiVo Recordings folder and I look for my PC in the Now Playing list but nada. I see my PC for Photos and Music, but not for Videos.

Am I skipping something or doing something wrong?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

What type of videos are you putting in your My Recordings folder? .tivo? .mpg? something else? Do you have the Plus version of TivoDesktop?



kevo777 said:


> I look for my PC in the Now Playing list but nada. I see my PC for Photos and Music, but not for Videos.


You are looking at the bottom of your *NPL* and not Music, Photos, Products & More menu, right?


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## kevo777 (Oct 22, 2007)

I've tried an MPG and a WMV, which to me TiVo Desktop is saying are supported. This is what it tells me:










I've placed the video files in my TiVo Recording folders. I knew that TiVo Desktop Plus was needed for transcoding to portable devices but I didn't know that it was needed to publish over a home network. If that's true then it's misleading.

I am definetly looking at the bottom of my NPL list. I've only had TiVo for about two days so the list fits on one page, no scrolling necessary (yet).


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

kevo777 said:


> I've tried an MPG and a WMV, which to me TiVo Desktop is saying are supported. This is what it tells me:
> 
> I've placed the video files in my TiVo Recording folders. I knew that TiVo Desktop Plus was needed for transcoding to portable devices but I didn't know that it was needed to publish over a home network. If that's true then it's misleading.
> 
> I am definetly looking at the bottom of my NPL list. I've only had TiVo for about two days so the list fits on one page, no scrolling necessary (yet).


http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/domore/tivotogo/windows.html

I agree they could make this more explicit, considering how many people are confused by it.

Not sure why you are not seeing the .mpg video. I would just verify everything is working by downloading a .tivo file to your PC. Once that is in you list in TivoDesktop, it should show up on the Tivo for transfer back.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

kevo777 said:


> I've only had TiVo for about two days so the list fits on one page, no scrolling necessary (yet).


What software version is your Tivo?

Have you enabled video transfers at tivo.com Manage My Account?
https://www3.tivo.com/tivo-mma/index.do

(although I think I read that is the default now)


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## joschmo (Jan 5, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> I agree they could make this more explicit, considering how many people are confused by it.


What's the verdict on this? Is TiVo Desktop Plus a requirement for publishing from a home computer?

I have TiVo Desktop (not plus) and I set it up to publish some MPG files. I was able to transfer them, but they do not play on the TiVo. Would it be because I'm not using plus?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

You can publish TiVo compliant MPEG2s or .tivo files without plus. To publish files that require conversion, you require the Plus upgrade, or something like pytivo or TiVoDotNet. Without plus, noncompliant mpegs will show up, but will produce an error when you play them.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Here is another program to get your video files Tivo compliant.

I agree, once you get a "true" Tivo file in your computer's My Tivo Recordings folder, you should see the computer icon at the bottom of the NPL (provided there are no network problems).

Good luck!


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## kevo777 (Oct 22, 2007)

@greg_burns,
Nice find. Misleading indeed.

The MPG file I tested with must not have been TiVo-compliant. So as I understand it, a networked PC will _not_ show up in the Now Playing List if the TiVo Recordings folder is empty or if files that are present are not TiVo-compliant files. I did successfully transfer a recording from TiVo to my PC so I know the connection is being made. Hmmm I guess I'll try out some "contraband" apps or consider purchasing the Plus upgrade.

Thanks everyone! Excellent forum this is!


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## amukhael (Sep 25, 2006)

I am not using Desktop Plus and I was able to watch (download/stream) an .mpeg movie just by throwing the shortcut to the video into the My Tivo Recordings folder. However, I decided to convert my 20+gig HD movie (Hot Fuzz) by converting from .ts to .mpeg. The resulting file showed up in my Tivo and looks gorgeous, but alas, it's sans sound! I am re-converting using another app I found (DVBPortal's TSConverter) hoping that the AC3 will work and I will let you know if that helps. 
Did anyone on this forum successfully download/stream an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray rip onto the Series 3? Will Desktop Plus convert any video file into H.264 format?


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## booner (Nov 3, 2007)

I'm having a similar issue. I have a TiVO HD, and desktop plus 2.5. Currently I can only see/stream Mpeg2's. I have placed a few .mp4's in my tivo recordings folder but cannot see them. I've restarted the tivo desktop application and reset my tivo.


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## rn701 (May 18, 2007)

The Tivo Desktop (plain) is misleading on the "publish video" window. It says you can play Mp4, WMV, Divx, etc., but that's only if you upgrade to the Tivo Desktop Plus.

But even that's misleading. I believe it converts everything on the fly to MPEG-2.

Even worse, I bought the upgrade and was disappointed to find that it downcoverts 1080i files to SD. That's not mentioned anywhere obvious. It wouldn't play an MP4 at all -- I just get a green screen. The audio track plays, though, so there's that. Formats that work (AVI and WMV) have poor picture quality at best.

So buyer beware: Tivo Desktop Plus is not ready for prime time for S3 users. It's a little puzzling why Tivo would sell HD DVRs but not support HD playback from Tivo Desktop Plus.

I can get something close to working by making a 1080i MPEG-2 file using some of the suggestions found in this forum (i.e. lowering the bit rate). Everything seems to be working OK, picture is sharp, no dropouts, etc. 

Except for one thing. There's this weird "pulsing" like the brightness going ever so slightly back and forth between darker and brighter. It's quite annoying and pretty much not usable. The file plays fine on Windows Media Player.

Off to search the forums to see if there are any other ideas....

Still happy to have finally have TivoToGo for the S3, though.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

rn701 said:


> Except for one thing. There's this weird "pulsing" like the brightness going ever so slightly back and forth between darker and brighter. It's quite annoying and pretty much not usable. The file plays fine on Windows Media Player.


I know the effect you're talking about, although I don't know how you're encoding. I see this with mencoder unless I specify "vmax_b_frames=2". (It doesn't generate any B frames by default.)


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## rn701 (May 18, 2007)

wmcbrine said:


> I know the effect you're talking about, although I don't know how you're encoding. I see this with mencoder unless I specify "vmax_b_frames=2". (It doesn't generate any B frames by default.)


Thanks for the tip!

I'm using the shovelware "VideoWave" that came with Roxio MyDVD.

It is using a built-in Roxio encoder, and the settings page doesn't have anything about B frames.

The setting I use are:

Compression: MPEG-2
Bitrate: 12.0 Mb/s (have tried various settings up to 16)
Frame rate: 30 (have also tried 29.97)
Fram size: 1920 X 1080
Video CD format: unchecked
Interlaced: check

That's all the video settings it has.

Will check to see if there are any other hidden settings in a file or registry, or look in to using a different encoder.

All I'm trying to do is make a little 15 minute slide show of some vacation photos.


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## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

To test whether you've got everything working, you can download the following TiVo-compliant MPEG-2 and see if you can get it to transfer to your TiVo (d/l the "Sample Video Clip [MPEG2]"):
http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/dvrchive.cfm

The MPEG-2 specs for Series2s follow. (Scroll down to the bottom of the linked page.) Series3s and TiVo HDs are _much_ less restrictive.
http://tivosupport2.instancy.com/Ti...-79C3-4238-96C8-A27B323D1413/ins_Content.html

Has anyone found a similar page with the required MPEG-2 specs for Series3s and TiVo HDs? I haven't created an MPEG-2 yet that I could _not_ transfer and play.


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## booner (Nov 3, 2007)

rn701 said:


> The Tivo Desktop (plain) is misleading on the "publish video" window. It says you can play Mp4, WMV, Divx, etc., but that's only if you upgrade to the Tivo Desktop Plus.
> 
> But even that's misleading. I believe it converts everything on the fly to MPEG-2.
> 
> Even worse, I bought the upgrade and was disappointed to find that it downcoverts 1080i files to SD. That's not mentioned anywhere obvious. It wouldn't play an MP4 at all -- I just get a green screen. The audio track plays, though, so there's that. Formats that work (AVI and WMV) have poor picture quality at best.


This is really disappointing. Unfortunately I can't get my Tivo to recognize that I even have mp4's in the Tivo folder. They are 720P, does that make a difference? I had a couple 1080i mpeg 2's that played fine. I have some other xvid's that are like 592x320 and different variations below the 720x480 SD resolution that also do not appear. Only mpeg2. :down: I bought Desktop Plus so I'm not sure what the deal is.


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## booner (Nov 3, 2007)

Doh! I think I found the problem. Although I bought the Desktop Plus software that is not what you download after purchase. You have to still click "upgrade" to enter your desktop plus key. I'm a dope.


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## juhealy (Mar 31, 2007)

Now that you have turned on the "Plus" is it working?

Mine is not, I have the Tivo Desktop Plus and activated. I have put one of every file type they specify in the Folder they specify. The only one that shows up though is the WMV file. This makes no sense for me. The other file types to not show up but the WMV file works perfectly.

I am 99% sure that the other files have no DRM so I am confused.


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## stubarrett (Oct 31, 2003)

FWIW, I just got my Tivo Desktop upgraded to Plus, and now my S3 plays everything I throw at it (e.g. mpg, avi, wmv). Also I have a short-cut in my Tivo Recordings directory pointing to content in my NAS box and that works seamlessly.

Stu


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## harmony.lake (Sep 15, 2006)

Will Desktop Plus also convert videos created by Microsoft Media Center Edition (DVR-MS file type) on the fly? I found a free converter, but it is a pain to have to convert everything I want to view on my S3? Thanks.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

I upgraded to plus and entered the key, it shows as upgraded. I can see transferred videos from my various Tivos to my computer in my NPL on my other Tivos but still do not see .mp4 videos (I have several) even though I copied them to my tivo recordings folder. They also do not show up in the NPL on my computer (not sure if they are supposed to).


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## rambler (Dec 3, 2005)

Usr the Videora converter (linked above) to modify the mp4's and put that converted file into the tivo folder. You should be able to see (and move) them after the conversion.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

rambler said:


> Usr the Videora converter (linked above) to modify the mp4's and put that converted file into the tivo folder. You should be able to see (and move) them after the conversion.


OK, but why would I need to convert .mp4 videos (from Nero Digital)? I thought that is why I bought Desktop plus for $24.95. Is there something I am missing? What format does Videora convert the .mp4's to? By the way, they are 720X480.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

larrs said:


> What format does Videora convert the .mp4's to? By the way, they are 720X480.


It converts to MPEG-2.

TivoDesktop does...
Windows Media Video (.wmv)
QuickTime Movie (.mov)
MPEG-4/H.264 (.mp4,.m4v,.mp4v)
MPEG-2 (.mpg,.mpeg,.mpe,.mp2,.mp2v,.mpv2)
DivX and Xvid (.avi, .divx)

Not sure why it isn't working for you.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

It appears that nothing I put into the MyTivoRecordings folder is showing on the NPL on Tivo Desktop or any of my Tivos. However, if I transfer any video from any of my Tivos to my computer it then shows in the NPL on the Tivo Desktop and all of my Tivos. 

Is Tivo support pretty good at solving problems like this?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

larrs said:


> It appears that nothing I put into the MyTivoRecordings folder is showing on the NPL on Tivo Desktop or any of my Tivos. However, if I transfer any video from any of my Tivos to my computer it then shows in the NPL on the Tivo Desktop and all of my Tivos.


Can you see .mpg files?

What happens if you free a .tivo file to .mpg? Does it still show?
http://www.gmonweb.com/portal/CodingFun/Downloads/tabid/54/Default.aspx


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> Can you see .mpg files?
> 
> What happens if you free a .tivo file to .mpg? Does it still show?
> http://www.gmonweb.com/portal/CodingFun/Downloads/tabid/54/Default.aspx


I dropped a couple of short .mpg's from my cell phone camera to the My Tivo Recordings folder and they show in the NPL and play fine on my tivos. I also converted a .tivo recording to .mpg format and it shows on the NPL on my computer and all of my tivos as well. It just seems to be .mp4 videos that do not show up. Any more suggestions?

I also noticed a thread from yesterday with someone asking about the same issue with divx files. Seems to be the exact same phenomenon...Here is that thread, I am going to direct that user back here since the issue seems to be the same.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=373970

Edit: Actually, his issue may or may not be related. He can see the file in Tivo desktop, but not on the Tivo.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

larrs said:


> It just seems to be .mp4 videos that do not show up. Any more suggestions?


.tivo and .mpg work, which they do for the non plus version. Can you get any of the other Plus supported video formats to work (.mov, .wmv, etc.)? Or is it just Nero Digital .mp4 that are the problem?


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

I also used Tivo Desktop to reformat a .tivo file to .mp4 and moved it into the "My Tivo Recordings" folder from the "My Tivo Recordings for Portables" folder. It does not show up in the NPL either.

At the bottom of the NPL in Tivo Desktop, if I click on "Where is this folder?", I see all of the recordings, so they are in the correct folder.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> .tivo and .mpg work, which they do for the non plus version. Can you get any of the other Plus supported video formats to work (.mov, .wmv, etc.)? Or is it just Nero Digital .mp4 that are the problem?


Checking now...

I dropped a .wmv file into the "My Tivo Recordings" folder and it shows up fine.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

OK, so I deleted the Tivo Desktop application and re-installed it. I can now see the .mp4 files on my Tivos and in the NPL in Tivo Desktop. However, when I start transferring, I get an error that the file could not be transferred. Is there a format limit on .mp4 files that I should be aware of? These are 720X480 files. The file in question is about 2.4GB.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

I played with this issue all day off and on and I got these results. I am not giving up, but as of now I really have little to be happy about. Starting with DVD files recorded from my Panasonic DVD recorder, I was able to use the "standard" (I was using "Cinema" to get better quality) setting in Nero Recode to get the converted .mp4 to finally transfer to my S2 Toshiba (DVD Recorder), but all I get is sound and a green screen. On my S3, it will simply not tranfer. I get a message that the video has been added to the "To Do" list and the blue transfer light comes on, but it goes off about 5 mins into the process and in the "To Do" history, I get a message that the video could not be transferred for one of variuos reasons (Copy protection, unsupported format, etc.). I tried several times and both of these problems duplicate each time on both of those Tivos. 

Late last night, I decided to reauthor the DVD files (using Nero) to mpeg2 files and it worked flawlessly on the S3; video and sound are excellent. However, on the S2 Toshiba, I get sound and a black screen. Very frustrating.

I have about 200 DVD's recorded from HBO HD, TMC-HD, etc. and I had hoped to store them on my computer (I really had hoped for .mp4 to save space) and have them available at any of my Tivo locations when I want to watch them, but this seems to be a hit and miss thing. Any suggestions on what to do next?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

larrs said:


> Late last night, I decided to reauthor the DVD files (using Nero) to mpeg2 files and it worked flawlessly on the S3; video and sound are excellent. However, on the S2 Toshiba, I get sound and a black screen. Very frustrating.


There is a problem with 9.1/9.2 with the 540s (not sure about S2 Toshiba), that transferred 16x9 videos only have audio, not video. My 240 works fine.


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## Jiffylush (Oct 31, 2006)

larrs said:


> I played with this issue all day off and on and I got these results. I am not giving up, but as of now I really have little to be happy about. Starting with DVD files recorded from my Panasonic DVD recorder, I was able to use the "standard" (I was using "Cinema" to get better quality) setting in Nero Recode to get the converted .mp4 to finally transfer to my S2 Toshiba (DVD Recorder), but all I get is sound and a green screen. On my S3, it will simply not tranfer. I get a message that the video has been added to the "To Do" list and the blue transfer light comes on, but it goes off about 5 mins into the process and in the "To Do" history, I get a message that the video could not be transferred for one of variuos reasons (Copy protection, unsupported format, etc.). I tried several times and both of these problems duplicate each time on both of those Tivos.
> 
> Late last night, I decided to reauthor the DVD files (using Nero) to mpeg2 files and it worked flawlessly on the S3; video and sound are excellent. However, on the S2 Toshiba, I get sound and a black screen. Very frustrating.
> 
> I have about 200 DVD's recorded from HBO HD, TMC-HD, etc. and I had hoped to store them on my computer (I really had hoped for .mp4 to save space) and have them available at any of my Tivo locations when I want to watch them, but this seems to be a hit and miss thing. Any suggestions on what to do next?


I may be wrong but I believe everything that is not mpeg2 is transcoded to mpeg2 when you tranfer it to the TiVo. So making it an mp4 first forces your computer to trancode the video when transferring to the tivo (slow, processor intensive) and you still end up with an mpeg2, plus the video quality is going to be bad.

I am working on something similar, and what I have decided to do is just rip the dvds using dvd shrink, only grabbing the main movie and first audio stream. Then renaming the big .vob to .mpg and placing it my recordings folder.

This is a very quick process that runs at disc speed (no transcoding or compression involved). The videos also transfer to the TiVo at around 20mbps so watching immediately is not an issue.

I have had mostly good luck with doing it this way, I have a 500gb drive dedicated to this and right now I have around 150 movies on it. If you want to sacrifice quality for space you could always lower the bitrate of the mpeg2 you are making (would take longer).

All my experience is with my S3, my guess with your S2 problems are maybe the resolution or bitrate are too high?


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> There is a problem with 9.1/9.2 with the 540s (not sure about S2 Toshiba), that transferred 16x9 videos only have audio, not video. My 240 works fine.


Interesting- they are 16:9, since these were recorded from HD channels.

I record my DVDs, exclusively from HD channels on DVD-RW's and then moved them to the computer, change the format from 4:3 to 16:9 using IfoEdit and then burn to DVD-R's. Maybe this could be the issue. I'll try a 4:3 video tonight. Thanks


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

Jiffylush said:


> I may be wrong but I believe everything that is not mpeg2 is transcoded to mpeg2 when you tranfer it to the TiVo. So making it an mp4 first forces your computer to trancode the video when transferring to the tivo (slow, processor intensive) and you still end up with an mpeg2, plus the video quality is going to be bad.
> 
> I am working on something similar, and what I have decided to do is just rip the dvds using dvd shrink, only grabbing the main movie and first audio stream. Then renaming the big .vob to .mpg and placing it my recordings folder.
> 
> ...


Sounds like we are on the same path. I have a 1TB drive for music and movies.

Questions:Is it as simple as renaming the extension if you do it that way? 
What about 5.1 audio?

I really wanted to save a bunch of space by using .mp4 files, but I could live with mpeg2.

Is this (.mp4's) really a job for pyTivo?


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## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

larrs said:


> What about 5.1 audio?


 I get 3/2.1 audio from my Series3 on DVDs that I rip to a single .vob file, which I simply rename as a .mpeg file (assuming, of course, that the original has 3/2.1 audio). The MPEG-2 files are huge, especially compared to H.264 mpeg4 files.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

minckster said:


> I get 3/2.1 audio from my Series3 on DVDs that I rip to a single .vob file, which I simply rename as a .mpeg file (assuming, of course, that the original is 3/2.1). The MPEG-2 files are huge, especially compared to H.264 mpeg4 files.


So, can that large single .mpg file be later renamed back to .vob and then burned and played in any DVD player?

Maybe I'll just go this way and eliminate the burning to DVD-R's from my process. I'll just archive everything this way. That would be worth it (eliminate the need for many of the DVD-R's). It should be easy for me since the audio is DD stereo and I don't need the menus generated by the Panny recorder (I eliminate them anyway before burning). I guess I could use Recode to reduce the file size somewhat as well, it does a pretty good job of shrinking video. I understand recode was developed by the person who developed Shrink.

Can I make this single, large .vob you talk about using recode, or do I have to have DVD Shrink?


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## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

larrs said:


> So, can that large single .mpg file be later renamed back to .vob and then burned and played in any DVD player?
> 
> Maybe I'll just go this way and eliminate the burning to DVD-R's from my process. I'll just archive everything this way. That would be worth it (eliminate the need for many of the DVD-R's). It should be easy for me since the audio is DD stereo and I don't need the menus generated by the Panny recorder (I eliminate them anyway before burning). I guess I could use Recode to reduce the file size somewhat as well, it does a pretty good job of shrinking video. I understand recode was developed by the person who developed Shrink.
> 
> Can I make this single, large .vob you talk about using recode, or do I have to have DVD Shrink?


 I use a Mac, so I can't help you too much with your specific questions. My ripping software includes the option to rip the main feature to a single file, which it calls "Title Only Extraction".

I sometimes use MPEG Streamclip (Windows or Mac, free) when I have a difficult time ripping just the main feature. Then I rip the entire DVD, figure out which .vob has the _beginning_ of the video that I want, and select it in MPEG Streamclip. MPEG Streamclip somehow figures out which .vob files to combine in what order. "File" > "Convert to MPEG..." gives me the .vob files as an MPEG-2 with minimal (if any?) conversions to the video or audio.

I cannot imagine a situation where you'd have a problem renaming the .mpeg back to .vob for burning, except for compressing the .vob for fitting on a single DVD. My MEPG-2 videos are 4 to 8 GBs. The H.264 mpeg-4 versions would be 2 to 3.5 GB. (Converting to H.264 is sooooo slow on a PowerPC Mac. You Intel people are so lucky.)


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## qz3fwd (Jul 6, 2007)

Will a 1920x1080i Mpeg2 Transport Stream w/18Mbps bitrate file streamed to the Tivo S3 playback as a 1080 18Mbps file on the Tivo without any conversion, or does it drop the resolution and bitrate? The file was not recorded off the Tivo, but is an OTA broadcast source nevertheless.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

minckster said:


> I use a Mac, so I can't help you too much with your specific questions. My ripping software includes the option to rip the main feature to a single file, which it calls "Title Only Extraction".
> 
> I sometimes use MPEG Streamclip (Windows or Mac, free) when I have a difficult time ripping just the main feature. Then I rip the entire DVD, figure out which .vob has the _beginning_ of the video that I want, and select it in MPEG Streamclip. MPEG Streamclip somehow figures out which .vob files to combine in what order. "File" > "Convert to MPEG..." gives me the .vob files as an MPEG-2 with minimal (if any?) conversions to the video or audio.
> 
> I cannot imagine a situation where you'd have a problem renaming the .mpeg back to .vob for burning, except for compressing the .vob for fitting on a single DVD. My MEPG-2 videos are 4 to 8 GBs. The H.264 mpeg-4 versions would be 2 to 3.5 GB. (Converting to H.264 is sooooo slow on a PowerPC Mac. You Intel people are so lucky.)


Tried it this last night and it works like a charm except for the 16:9 issue on my S2 boxes. Thanks for the suggestion. I shouldn't have an issue with a single .vob as I am compresssng the file before renaming it .mpg. When I change the extension back to .vob and burn the video, it burns and plays fine in the several dvd players I have around the house. Now to call Tivo and ask about the 16:9 bug....thanks again.

BTW, I really didn't need to drop $25 for Desktop plus for this!


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## minckster (Aug 31, 2006)

larrs said:


> Tried it this last night and it works like a charm except for the 16:9 issue on my S2 boxes.


 Glad it worked! You're going to hit many more issues on a Series2 than a Series3 or TiVoHD. The required specs for a Series2 (at bottom of page) are just so much more restrictive. I'll suspect that you'll usually have to convert .vob files to meet the S2's requirements, but not the S3's or the HD's.

You may want to pay particular attention to the S2's Resolution requirements (which may explain your 16x9 issue) and whether your particular model supports AC/3 audio. I think that's the most common audio format on DVDs.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

minckster said:


> Glad it worked! You're going to hit many more issues on a Series2 than a Series3 or TiVoHD. The required specs for a Series2 (at bottom of page) are just so much more restrictive. I'll suspect that you'll usually have to convert .vob files to meet the S2's requirements, but not the S3's or the HD's.
> 
> You may want to pay particular attention to the S2's Resolution requirements (which may explain your 16x9 issue) and whether your particular model supports AC/3 audio. I think that's the most common audio format on DVDs.


The DVR I am having an issue with is a Toshiba w/DVD recorder and it does support AC-3. The specs seem to fit (720X480, etc.), so it must be an issue with 16:9 video, which has been reported all over these forums. I may replace the Toshiba with a Tivo HD and add another Tivo HD anyway (Merry Christmas to me!), but I would like to find out if Tivo is working on this issue. Maybe we need a new thread just for this issue, as it seems to be buried in many other threads around instead.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Yeah, I had a 16x9 video nothing but audio on my 540. Same video to my 240 played fine.


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

greg_burns said:


> Yeah, I had a 16x9 video nothing but audio on my 540. Same video to my 240 played fine.


And I can add the Toshiba and I assume the Humax DVD models to that as well.

I am going to start a thread and hopefully we can get someone at Tivo's attention.


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## dougdingle (Jul 4, 2007)

Is there a way to push DVD files in a folder to the S3 in such a way that the entire movie plays without having to transfer and load its segments one at a time?

I have found the actual video files with VOB extensions, renamed them to MPG extensions, and created shortcuts for them in the TiVo Recordings folder, which allows me to see the content on the S3 one VOB at a time. 

But that seems to be a sledgehammer approach. Is there an easy way to transfer and watch the whole movie seamlessly?


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## larrs (May 2, 2005)

dougdingle said:


> Is there a way to push DVD files in a folder to the S3 in such a way that the entire movie plays without having to transfer and load its segments one at a time?
> 
> I have found the actual video files with VOB extensions, renamed them to MPG extensions, and created shortcuts for them in the TiVo Recordings folder, which allows me to see the content on the S3 one VOB at a time.
> 
> But that seems to be a sledgehammer approach. Is there an easy way to transfer and watch the whole movie seamlessly?


You need to reauthor the VObs into a single large VOB. Many software programs will do this. It is a setting in Nero Recode I think, or as someone else mentioned, DVD Shrink does it as well (have to change the setting to allow it).


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## dougdingle (Jul 4, 2007)

larrs said:


> You need to reauthor the VObs into a single large VOB. Many software programs will do this. It is a setting in Nero Recode I think, or as someone else mentioned, DVD Shrink does it as well (have to change the setting to allow it).


Thanks. Just tried this with DVD Shrink, and (as long as you deselect the option to make 1 gig VOB chunks and ignore the subequent warnings) it will make a single large VOB of the main movie, but won't also add to that huge VOB any of the other clips (behind the scenes, alternate endings, etc.), although it will take those extra clips and make a single separate VOB out of them as well.

It's reasonably quick - about 8 minutes to write a 6 gig file with no additional compression by the program.


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## brota (Dec 17, 2004)

How do you get the 5.1 sound to work?
I used DVD Shrink to make a dvd into1 vob file renamed to mpg. I transfered the file and it plays but my stereo does not show the 5.1 sound.

Thank you
Brian


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## subat0mic (Jan 7, 2007)

kevo777 said:


> This is what it tells me:


misleading is right.

I have the same screen on my TivoDesktop 2.5.1. I only have TivoDesktop (not plus). And my TivoDesktop says (as in the picture above), that it *supports* xvid/divx/avi/etc... but only mpg files are even showing in the list... it skips all .divx and all .avi files... (they don't show on the tivo, or in the Desktop software). so is this software *lying* to us? is only mpg supported in Tivo Desktop 2.5.1???? WTF! I'm cool buying a better version, but it isn't even clear if I need to or not... what craptacular advertising on Tivo's part... 

some other observations...
- if I rename a .avi file to .mpg, it _will_ show up. but when I transfer it, it simply plays as black on the tivo...

- I have no trouble playing .mpg files (so far), except almost every one has a 2 second sound dropout at a random location in time...

- kinda buggy, this software is. (if i'm to take the above picture at face value... or misleading could be the better term to use if the above picture is advertising formats that it doesn't support...)

*UPDATE:* just upgraded to Plus... here's what suddenly started working:
- divx/avi now shows in the list
- I can now browse recordings on my tivo, presumably i will be able to copy them to my PC now...

i'm off to go try this stuff... sheesh, how misleading can they be... I just thought the TivoDesktop had some bugs!

*UPDATE2:* 
- the list on my PC appeared pretty quick. 
- the list *on my tivo* kept saying "unavailable" and kicking me out, until I waited 5 minutes... then I can read 1 screen of that list. if I page down, again "unavailable", and it kicks me out... bah... looks like I have to wait for the whole list to be pre-scanned or something...
- now that all my videos are showing, I find the list to be very *LONG*... couldn't they have implemented folders?!?! or at least made page-down fast?


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## hollandpeter (Dec 28, 2007)

How does one "rename" a VOB into a MPEG"?

Thanks


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

hollandpeter said:


> How does one "rename" a VOB into a MPEG"?
> 
> Thanks


You literally rename the file from blahblah.vob to blahblah.mpg using windows explorer.

Where are you having an issue? Do you even have a vob file yet?


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

hollandpeter said:


> How does one "rename" a VOB into a MPEG"?
> 
> Thanks


Right click on the file in Windows Explorer.
Select "rename"
Edit the extension from .vob to .mpg.
Click outside the file name 
Ignore the warning about changing the extension.

And welcome to the forum!


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## hollandpeter (Dec 28, 2007)

Thanks for the welcome and info. I have some vobs from dvd decrypter. I'll give it a try.


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## hollandpeter (Dec 28, 2007)

One more question: What about ISO files? Can they be played on TivoHD? If so, how?

Thanks again.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

hollandpeter said:


> One more question: What about ISO files? Can they be played on TivoHD? If so, how?
> 
> Thanks again.


An ISO file is just a disc image. Assuming, your ISO file is an DVD movie ISO, you would first have to mount the ISO then copy off the vob files.

You can easily mount and ISO using a program like MagicDisc.


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