# Content Transfer from a Series 3 to a Bolt+?



## rmansfield (Jan 9, 2010)

I bought my TiVo new in 2009, so I guess it's a Series 3. I have an external eSATA drive connected to it as well. It is still working okay, but I'd like to upgrade to a Bolt + sometime in the next few weeks. 

Knowing that I won't be able to watch all my saved content in time, is there any way to transfer my content from my current TiVo to the new one? 

Forgive me if this has already been covered here on the forums. I looked, but didn't see the answer.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

As long as the content is not restricted, the TiVos are on the same account, and the TiVos are on the same network. Then yes, you can transfer shows between them. 

It will just be very slow. Bolt to Bolt transfers can reach 500Mb/s. While transfers with the S3 were only around 30Mb/s. If I remember correctly.


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## rmansfield (Jan 9, 2010)

Thanks for the answer. How do you go about transferring the content?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

You just go to the My Shows list. And at the bottom will be the other TiVos on the network. Then you select the TiVo and then can browse the show titles on the S3. And if it's not restricted there will be an option to transfer it.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Login your tivo.com account.
Go to DVR Preferences
make sure your Tivos are all checked on Transfers, sharing, etc.
Click save at the bottom if there are changes.
Go to your Settings and Network, Select on Connect to Tivo Service, on all Tivo DVRs.
You should have a Media Access Key (MAK) as shown on your Tivo.com account.
There are software if you want to tranfer shows to a PC.
The other Tivo should show near the bottom of playlist.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

I installed my Bolt+ this evening. So far liking it but it is a big adjustment from my old S3! I tried to copy shows but no luck. The old Tivo appears on the list on the Bolt but when I try to go into it I get either C423 or the Bolt locks up. The lock up is something I have seen before between my HD and S3 actually, so I assume that is a long-standing bug in the old transfer protocol implementation.

I have two (maybe 3?) switches in between the two Tivos right now so tomorrow I will try putting them on the same switch. Maybe that will help.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Jeff_W said:


> I installed my Bolt+ this evening. So far liking it but it is a big adjustment from my old S3! I tried to copy shows but no luck. The old Tivo appears on the list on the Bolt but when I try to go into it I get either C423 or the Bolt locks up. The lock up is something I have seen before between my HD and S3 actually, so I assume that is a long-standing bug in the old transfer protocol implementation.
> 
> I have two (maybe 3?) switches in between the two Tivos right now so tomorrow I will try putting them on the same switch. Maybe that will help.


Forget fussing with that...

The latest Tivo service update v20.6.3 screwed up transfers between units on 20.6.3 and older Tivos (seems Premieres on SD menu still works.)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Jeff_W said:


> I installed my Bolt+ this evening. So far liking it but it is a big adjustment from my old S3! I tried to copy shows but no luck. The old Tivo appears on the list on the Bolt but when I try to go into it I get either C423 or the Bolt locks up. The lock up is something I have seen before between my HD and S3 actually, so I assume that is a long-standing bug in the old transfer protocol implementation.
> 
> I have two (maybe 3?) switches in between the two Tivos right now so tomorrow I will try putting them on the same switch. Maybe that will help.


Whether one switch or a dozen switches in between it shouldn't matter. If it does make a difference then something weird is going on.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

ThAbtO has it right do nothing. It should be fixed by the next software patch (version 2.6.3 RC ? (where ? is something higher than 7, the current release).


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

You can transfer shows from your S3 to a PC, then back to your Bolt. I just verified this still works with my TiVoHD (similar to your S3) and Roamio Plus (20.6.3.rc7, somewhat similar to your Bolt+). I used kmttg to pull from my HD, and published it with pyTivo, and pulled it back up from my RP.

It really isn't that bad, and not much slower. Transfers from the TiVoHD (and S3?) max out at around 15Mbps. That's the bottleneck. Roamio Plus can pull from the PC over 180-200Mbps. I think the Bolt+ is even faster?


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Could I transfer from an older Tivo to the Bolt using just Tivo desktop? If yes then that might work but it would be a bit of a PITA.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Jeff_W said:


> Could I transfer from an older Tivo to the Bolt using just Tivo desktop? If yes then that might work but it would be a bit of a PITA.


You can transfer shows from your Series 3 to a computer via TiVo Desktop and then transfer those shows from your computer to your Bolt. The whole process is manual but going to your computer you can select all your shows and just let it run, unfortunately going to your Bolt you will have to select each show again and that process is fairly cumbersome. But like justen_m said it is workable.

That said unless you have some time sensitive need to move the shows I would wait for TiVo to release the next software patch that should fix this issue and allow for direct transfer from your Series 3 to your Bolt again.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Is "link to my account" broken in Tivo Desktop 2.8.3? I just installed it on my Windows 10 desktop and entered the Pro key I purchased years ago. When I try to link to my account I get an error, but I used the same login on Tivo Online and it works fine.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Jeff_W said:


> Is "link to my account" broken in Tivo Desktop 2.8.3? I just installed it on my Windows 10 desktop and entered the Pro key I purchased years ago. When I try to link to my account I get an error, but I used the same login on Tivo Online and it works fine.


For a while: Tivodesktop 2.8.3 "unable to link to your account"


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Jeff_W said:


> Is "link to my account" broken in Tivo Desktop 2.8.3? I just installed it on my Windows 10 desktop and entered the Pro key I purchased years ago. When I try to link to my account I get an error, but I used the same login on Tivo Online and it works fine.


The Pro Key no longer does anything. TiVo has stopped officially supporting TiVo Desktop so any feature that required contacting and connecting with TiVo servers no longer works. I only use the program to move shows off my TiVos to my computers (and then back again at some point) and that still works fine.

Just for reference the Free and Pro versions where the same software. Paying for Pro unlock additional features and required contact with TiVo's servers, so those features no longer work but pretty much all the features that were available in the free version still work as those features did not require contact with the TiVo servers.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Thanks. I thought you had to link to transfer from desktop back to a Tivo. I will give it a try later.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

How do I get Tivo Desktop on my Windows PC to show up in the list of devices on the Bolt? I added the Tivo recordings directory to the Videos tab but I'm still not seeing it when I look in my Bolt.


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

Jeff_W said:


> How do I get Tivo Desktop on my Windows PC to show up in the list of devices on the Bolt? I added the Tivo recordings directory to the Videos tab but I'm still not seeing it when I look in my Bolt.


First, does your PC see the recordings on your Bolt?

Is the little TiVo icon showing on your PC's taskbar? The My Shows should have your PC at the end as "Now Playing On <PC Name>". It should display on the Music & Photos option also. But Music doesn't work.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

Jeff_W said:


> How do I get Tivo Desktop on my Windows PC to show up in the list of devices on the Bolt? I added the Tivo recordings directory to the Videos tab but I'm still not seeing it when I look in my Bolt.


You can try rebooting the Bolt to see if that makes it find your computer. Other than that not sure what to tell you. Can you access your Bolt from your computer with TiVo Desktop?


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## justen_m (Jan 15, 2004)

I had a problem once (actually occurred a few times) that was fixed by rebooting my router. Rebooting my TiVos and PC didn't help. Can't hurt, and is easy enough to do.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Jeff_W said:


> How do I get Tivo Desktop on my Windows PC to show up in the list of devices on the Bolt? I added the Tivo recordings directory to the Videos tab but I'm still not seeing it when I look in my Bolt.


You have "Enable video downloads" and "Video sharing" turned on for the Bolt in your device preferences on TiVo.com?

Otherwise, try rebooting the Bolt as mentioned and check for firewall issues on your PC.

Scott


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Thanks Scott I did not have "Enable video downloads" checked on the Bolt but I think I have other problems. From my S3 I can see "Now playing on COMPUTERNAME" but when I enter it the list is empty. I've already entered the MAK into Tivo Desktop. I've also fixed the network selection in Tivo Desktop (initially it was my Hyper-V 169.x.x.x adapter) and set to "share with all". Seems like all the usual Tivo Desktop suspects are listed in Windows Firewall. Not sure what to do next. I suppose I could wait for Tivo to fix the direct transfer issue but I would really like to get these transfers going so I can tear down and sell my older Tivos.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

When you updated the preferences on Tivo.com account, you need to make the Tivo update that change by connecting to Tivo service.


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Yeah but transfers don't seem to be working to my older Tivos either. Seems like a setup problem with Tivo Desktop. I haven't used it in years so I just installed it again this week.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Jeff_W said:


> Thanks Scott I did not have "Enable video downloads" checked on the Bolt but I think I have other problems. From my S3 I can see "Now playing on COMPUTERNAME" but when I enter it the list is empty. I've already entered the MAK into Tivo Desktop. I've also fixed the network selection in Tivo Desktop (initially it was my Hyper-V 169.x.x.x adapter) and set to "share with all". Seems like all the usual Tivo Desktop suspects are listed in Windows Firewall. Not sure what to do next. I suppose I could wait for Tivo to fix the direct transfer issue but I would really like to get these transfers going so I can tear down and sell my older Tivos.


If you can see the PC and can open it but the list is empty, then that would point to what type of videos do you have in the My TiVo Recordings folder (extension, encoding?). I've only used the free version with .TiVo files and MPEG2 files (normally just downloading though and then using pyTivo on our WHS server for uploads and other video formats).

Scott


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## alexb (Jan 4, 2003)

Did you try using online.tivo.com to do the Transfer?


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

According to another thread that only works with Premiere and later.

Bolt can no longer see Tivo HD box (C423 error)


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Jeff_W said:


> How do I get Tivo Desktop on my Windows PC to show up in the list of devices on the Bolt? I added the Tivo recordings directory to the Videos tab but I'm still not seeing it when I look in my Bolt.


My Bolt has definite STRANGE and intermittent problems seeing the TiVo Desktop servers. In short, what I found when I first set up my Bolt is that rebooting the Bolt would REMOVE any and all Desktop servers from the Bolt menu list. Rebooting a PC would generally get the Desktop server to show back up on the Bolt, but I also had some intermittent problems with the TiVo Desktop server access settings. Using "Full" access helped. I never did fully understand the problems, or even get them 100% repeatable for more testing, and all the rebooting was very tedious.

See post 15 in this thread for more information:
Bolt is a Huge Disappointment to Me

I have not tried to access any Desktop server from the Bolt since the Bad Rovi Reaming with 20.6.3 update this month, but considering that they totally destroyed any ability for the Bolt to see S3 or S4 boxes with that reaming, I would not be surprised if the Desktop communication got worse too. The aggravation I get when trying to do ANY network communication with the Bolt is so bad I have just given up on it. I WAS regularly copying certain recordings from the old S3 boxes to the Bolt for watching, but Bad Rovi has screwed us on that now too.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Just tested access to TiVo Desktop server again from the Bolt. Woke the bolt up and the currently running Desktop Server was NOT shown in the devices list. I restarted the TiVo desktop from the File | Preferences menu, and then the Desktop Server was shown again in the Bolt Devices list.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Do you have your PC set to go to sleep also? I think you can achieve the same thing by right-clicking on the TiVo icon in the system tray and select Pause Server and then Resume Server.

Scott


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## Jeff_W (May 21, 2005)

Nope, PC does not sleep. I've restarted Tivos, PC, Tivo Desktop, router and switches many times. No luck. There seems to be something wrong with the way I've set up Tivo Desktop since I can't see the transferred show from my S3. Not sure what the problem is.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Jeff_W said:


> Nope, PC does not sleep. I've restarted Tivos, PC, Tivo Desktop, router and switches many times. No luck. There seems to be something wrong with the way I've set up Tivo Desktop since I can't see the transferred show from my S3. Not sure what the problem is.


My reply was in response to V7Goose's issue where the PC is not showing up in the Bolt menu as an alternative method to quickly restarting the server in TiVo Desktop.

So you have a .TiVo show in your My TiVo Recordings folder (directly) and you can open the PC from the TiVo but don't see the .TiVo recording? Can you transfer a show from the Roamio to verify neither shows are seen?

Scott


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