# Using Desktop plus 2.8.2 to auto transfer to TiVo



## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

I am trying to set up an auto transfer using Desktop 2.8.2 Plus to auto transfer Tivo files from my PC to my TiVo. It never transfers them. It will auto transfer mpg files I put in the folder but never Tivo files. 

I just got off a chat session with a Tivo support person who said it should work but could not help me get it to. Has anyone here ever tried this and did you get it to work?


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

You can run the TiVo Desktop logfinder application (under Start->TiVo Desktop) and enable logging and then examine or post the log file messages here. Probably the server log is the relevant one. It will narrow down where the problem is.


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## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

Well, another thing. Even though the support person said it should work an even though the TiVo website says Tivo files are a valid file type, when I tried to select a folder for auto transfers than only had Tivo files in it, I got the following message:



> Note: This folder contains Tivo Video Recordings transferred from a DVR. These recordings cannot be transferred back.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Yes, that is correct, TiVo files do NOT auto transfer back. If you decrypt them to regular mpeg2 then they will.


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## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

per the instructions from the tivo website

http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/howto/record-once-watch-anywhere/howto_transfer_shows_from_mac.html



> Select the folder containing the videos you want to add. These can be home
> movies, videos downloaded from the web, or any other video files, as long
> as they are one of the following formats:
> Windows Media Video (.wmv)
> ...




This bit of instructions is why I purchased the Plus upgrade.


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

Not a big deal though. Just PULL TiVo files from your TiVos instead of auto transferring. That works fine.


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## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

No, not a big deal. Just more convenient and faster to move the files to a PC folder and walk away.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

You can also push them from pyTivo (it will decrypt them automatically, using tivodecode). This isn't quite the same as a TD auto-transfer, but it uses the same mechanism. You can checkbox everything in the folder, hit the Push button, and walk away.


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## janry (Jan 2, 2003)

wmcbrine said:


> You can also push them from pyTivo (it will decrypt them automatically, using tivodecode). This isn't quite the same as a TD auto-transfer, but it uses the same mechanism. You can checkbox everything in the folder, hit the Push button, and walk away.


Yeah, I've tried a couple of times to install pyTivo. I'm not a good enough computer guru to figure it out. However, I've haven't checked to see if anyone has somplified the install process in the last few months. Has it been simplified?


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

It's never been complicated, honestly. People make a lot more out of it than it is. But I'd rather not go on about that in a thread that's nominally about Desktop.


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## brettatk (Oct 11, 2002)

PyTivo can be intimidating, but once you have it set up it works so much better than TD+ and you have more flexibility with the number of files it supports. As mentioned earlier you can queue up as many shows as you want and tranfer them over to the Tivo manually. A better solution for me was pyTivo auto push. You can set a folder(s) up on your PC and then whenever you drop a video file (of any type) in that folder, it automatically pushes it to your Tivo without you doing a thing. You can even go a step beyond that and get a program like pytivometathis and provide metadata so your shows go into specific folders that you create. Like I said, it can be dauting getting it all set up, but once you have it working it's awesome.


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