TiVo Storage and Windows Home Server

by Christopher Kenney (cskenney)

With the release of the HP MediaSmart Expander for TiVo Add-In, I thought it might be interesting to talk about the options available for storing content from a TiVo to a computer or your Windows Home Server and making the content available for transferring back to the TiVo. Most of the options are available to anyone who is willing to install the software on their system and not specifically limited to the HP MediaSmart Servers.

A little background might be helpful on TiVo and its capabilities.  Unlike most DVRs, TiVo DVRs are easily connected to home networks, allowing users to schedule recordings using TiVo’s website, transfer recordings between TiVo units (Multi-Room Viewing) or transfer to and from a home computer (TiVoToGo transfers).  A TiVo can also play music and view photos over the network, and access third-party applications written for TiVo’s Home Media Engine (HME) API.

There are a number of ways to transfer content from a TiVo and back again. Here are a few that I am familiar with and will briefly touch on.

1. TiVo built in Web server (Series 2)
2. TiVo Desktop (free)
3. TiVo Desktop Plus ($24.95)
4. HP Expander for TiVo (free)
5. pyTivo (free)
6. kmttg (free)

TiVo built in Web Server – Series 2 TiVo

The Series 2 TiVo boxes have a built in web server that can be accessed using a web browser on any of the PC’s connected to the same home network.

By entering https://<tivo ip>/nowplaying/index.html in your browser the TiVo will prompt you for user id: tivo and password: MAK. The query looks like the picture below.

If you select a folder on this screen it will open up and display the grouped recordings or selecting a Download MPEG-PS link will start transferring a recording to your PC. The downside to this method is you have to initiate the query in your browser and manually select what you want to download. Once the file is downloaded, the DRM on the file prevents you from playing it. There is software available to help with this problem (see kmttg section). There is also no ability to transfer recordings back to the TiVo.

TiVo Desktop

When the Series 2 TiVo was introduced into the market, TiVo started offering free software (TiVo Desktop) that allowed the transfer of recordings from a Series 2 TiVo to a PC. The TiVo Desktop application installs a server on a users desktop PC that allows recordings to be transferred to a PC and watched locally using Windows Media Player (media access key – MAK must be stored in the TiVo Desktop configuration).  You could also transfer files back to the TiVo from the PC plus view photos and play music.  The problem with this scenario was you had to leave your desktop computer on all the time with the TiVo server running.  All transfers to the PC had to be done at the PC.  All transfers back to the box were done in the TiVo interface.

Using the TiVo Desktop application, a user can play the local recordings stored on the PC or Delete them. In this scenario, only the computer with TiVo Desktop is able to play the .tivo files because of the DRM locking the files.

Selecting Pick Recordings to Transfer will send a query to the TiVo for the Now Playing list.

When a recording is selected, the user can start transferring immediately or Create an Auto-Transfer rule for this series.

Setting up an Auto-Transfer will automatically transfer recordings from the TiVo to the PC. If you set up the rules correctly, you can limit the number of recordings on the TiVo (Keep at most 5 episodes) and then create an Auto-Transfer rule that uses Keep at Most: ALL. This would prevent the TiVo hard drive from filling up but you could archive an entire series on your computer.

My understanding is TiVo Desktop will work with all Series 2, Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo Premiere boxes. There are some limitations for transferring recordings related to copyright protection and DRM that I will highlight later.

One word of caution anyone thinking about installing TiVo Desktop directly on their WHS. In the past, TiVo Desktop was known to have memory leaks (poorly written code) and would eventually require the computer to be restarted because all the resources were being consumed.

TiVo Desktop Plus

To address the expanding world of portable media, TiVo expanded the capabilities of their Desktop software by introducing TiVo Desktop Plus. TiVo charges $24.95 for a key that will unlock the following capabilities in the Plus version:

The TiVo Desktop Plus Key extends the file transfer and conversion abilities of TiVo Desktop. TiVo Desktop Plus allows you to automatically convert your TiVoToGo transfers to play on a variety of portable devices with video support, including the following:

• Apple iPod, Apple iPhone, Apple iPod Touch
• BlackBerry Bold, BlackBerry Curve, BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Storm, BlackBerry Tour
• Nokia N80
• Palm Pre, Palm Treo 650
• Sony Playstation Portable (PSP)
• Zune, Zune HD
• H.264 compatible devices
• MPEG-4 compatible devices

TiVo Desktop Plus also makes it possible to view videos, collected from the web, on your broadband connected TiVo DVR.

Supported formats include:

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

NOTE: Files with digital rights management (DRM) or other copy protection are not supported.

I have never used TiVo Desktop Plus so you will need to form your own conclusions about the additional cost and the features that are offered.

HP Expander for TiVo

The new HP Expander Add-in looks like TiVo Desktop.  The basic functionality is the same.  The application will query the TiVo for the list of available recordings.  Then the user selects the recordings they want to transfer to the computer.  From the TiVo interface, the user can pull the content from the PC back to the TiVo. One key piece that is missing from the add-in that exists in TiVo Desktop is the ability to perform automatic transfers. Additionally, some users might want the ability to include some of the features unlocked with the Desktop Plus key like automatically converting for playback on a portable device or serving up other video formats in addition to .TIVO files.

Unfortunately, the extended features are not available in the Add-in at this time. Perhaps in the future the Add-in will be updated to offer more of these features. Personally, I have always wanted to control everything from the TiVo interface.  I should be able to “push” content to a network storage location.  I should not need to go to a remote location to “pull” it off the TiVo.

Another feature highlighted by HP about the add-in is the ability to watch the .tivo files stored on the server from any PC in the home using Windows Media Player. I believe this statement requires the condition that TiVo Desktop is installed on each PC to allow the DRM to be handled correctly. I intend to investigate this in the near future.

OPEN SOURCE SOLUTIONS

pyTiVo

pyTivo is both an HMO and GoBack server. Similar to TiVo Desktop Plus, pyTivo loads many standard video compression codecs and outputs mpeg2 video to the TiVo. However, pyTivo is able to load many more file types than TiVo Desktop.
Many people have wanted additional functionality for their file transfer to / from their TiVo.  If you participate in the TiVoCommunity.com Forums you may have heard about pyTiVo.  Similar to TiVo Desktop Plus, pyTiVo loads many standard video compression codecs and outputs mpeg2 video to the TiVo. However, pyTivo is able to load many more file types than TiVo Desktop.  pyTivo is continually being updated with new features and enhancements.

Features of pyTiVo

• Output 4:3 or 16:9 and pad your video if needed.
• Transfer compatible video files without transcoding.
• Transfer TiVo recordings (.tivo) from computer to TiVo.
• Display Metadata about your video.
• Serve Music and Photos through the HMO protocol
• Support for Windows, Linux, and Mac

Requirements In order to run pyTivo you will need:

1. A compatible TiVo with active subscription (standalone Series 2, Series 3/HD or Series 4)
2. A Python interpreter, version 2.6, 2.5 or 2.4
3. FFmpeg (included with the Windows Installer or pyTivoX)
4. A current release of pyTivo
5. The Python Imaging Library — if you plan on using the photo plugin

One drawback to using pyTivo is obviously the need to manually install the various pieces required to make it work. There is version with a full Windows installer, but the version of pyTivo in the installer has not been updated when new versions were released.

KMTTG

For the power users, another application called kmttg provides all the features of TiVo Desktop plus opens up a lot more options.

From the kmttg development web page:

“kmttg is a Java based program I wrote to facilitate TivoToGo (TTG) transfers that can download, create pyTivo metadata, decrypt, run comskip & comcut (commercial detection and removal), create closed captions files and re-encode multiple shows you select from your Tivos all automatically. The program also has the capability to transfer and process shows automatically from your Tivos based on titles and keywords you setup.

You can select one or more shows at a time and then with one click of a button the program will download all the selected items, with the options of also automatically creating a metadata file for pyTivo, decrypting .TiVo files to .mpg, running comskip (commercial detection and removal program), and automatically re-encoding to a more portable format using mencoder, ffmpeg or any other command line encoder of your choosing. The program queues up multiple jobs and displays time, size and speed statistics for ongoing jobs.”

KMTTG is written in Java and can be run from a GUI or in the background as a service.

I have run kmttg on my desktop PC for a while now. This interface is not as fancy as TiVo Desktop, but I like the ability to automatically transfer shows and then convert them to other formats that provide more flexibility to me. I can then utilize the power of my server to store the video for use by a Windows Media Center, SageTV, TwonkyMedia Server or any other software that is able to play the files without the burden of DRM.

Installing kmttg on your WHS would be no small task as there are many additional packages you would need to install too. All this would need to be done using RDP or directly on the desktop if you have a keyboard and monitor hooked to your WHS.

An excellent source for learning more about developments in software and solutions for TiVo is on the TivoCommunity Forums.

HP Extender for TiVo thoughts and next steps

To provide the real capabilities that people are looking for, would have required HP to develop an application similar to kmttg.  However, as DRM protection is pushed down from the content providers (cable companies in particular) the ability to move the recordings off the TiVo may disappear as well.
Who knows what the future holds for media content in the home with all of the digital copy protection that is determining what we can do with the content in our own homes.

There are a couple things that people need to be understood about TiVo recordings.

1. TiVo recordings are saved on the server using the HP Add-in using a file extension of .tivo.  This is simply a container with the DRM protection created by TiVo packaged with a MPEG2 video.  There is software that will allow you to remove the DRM and save the video as MPEG2 (see kmttg).  Then you can encode the file for other personal uses (iPod, Zune, etc.).
2. If you are using a box with Cablecard (Series III , TiVo HD or TiVo Premier), these boxes must comply with copy protection for digital content.

Quote from TiVo help site- “The TiVo Series3, TiVo HD and Premiere are compliant Digital Cable Receiver (DCR) devices which use CableCARD™ to receive high quality digital cable content in its native form. Since the Series3, TiVo HD and Premiere are DCR devices, in addition to the Macrovision rules for analog content, they must also comply with the content protection policies for Digital Cable content. These copy protection rules vary by content type, and in general, premium and pay channels will have more restrictive rules.”

This means if the program is marked No Copies allowed it won’t transfer to the server.

1. There is some content that that can be downloaded from the Internet to a TiVo using TiVoCast that contains copy protection so it will not transfer to the server.

I hope this helps shed some light on the HP Add-in and TiVo in general. I realize that my comments here have probably missed other solutions that may exist for these same tasks. I own a Series II TiVo that I was using with my DISH satellite box until December 2009 and these were the solutions I have tried over the past 5 years.  My Series II TiVo has a lifetime subscription and was upgraded to 1TB of storage (2×500 GB drives) about 3 years ago. I never spent much time trying to develop methods for storing content outside the box due to the large volume of storage I had created on my TiVo but I like mess around with multimedia and computers.

My TiVo has worked fine for many years but the digital transition has made it obsolete. I upgraded to HD service in December and the box just sits right now.  I am currently waiting on the 3.0 disks to arrive from HP so I can upgrade my EX485 MediaSmart Server.  Once I have the 3.0 disks and upgrade my server, I’ll give the TiVo add-in a try with my Series II TiVo and provide a follow up review.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Deals that make you want to build!

HITACHI Deskstar 2TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Retail – $139!  Don’t forget the code.

Western Digital Caviar Green 1TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

COOLER MASTER ELITE 335 RC-335-KKN1-GP Black Computer Case

ASUS M4A89GTD PRO/USB3 AMD Motherboard USB 3 Goodness!

And Lastly, the 5Big.  No, it’s not A WHS but it sure is cool!  I don’t see JBOD in it’s specs but it has plenty of RAID configurations.

LaCie 5Big 7.5TB 5-Bay NAS RAID Networking Hard Drive Enclosure w/ Gigabit & eSATA $949 – PCConnectionExpress.com

Popularity: 3% [?]

HD HomeRun and Hard Drive Deals

Newegg has some good deals on gear.  HDHomeRun for $124.99. 1TB and 1.5 Hard drives deals are killer!

SiliconDust HDHomeRun Network-based Dual Digital HDTV Tuner Ethernet Interface – $124.99 w/ Free Ship!

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive – $81.99 w/ Free ship!  Don’t forget the promo code, EMCYPZT33

SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 1.5TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive – $89.99 w/ Free shipping.  Don’t forget the promo code, EMCYPZT35

Popularity: 4% [?]

Storage Deals

It’s that time again.  Daylight Savings Time that is.  Spring forward this Sunday.  To celebrate, Newegg.com is slashing prices on all sorts of storage items.  Here are a few of them.

WD 1TB – $89.99 Free Ship

WD 2TB – $159.99 Free Ship

Antec 300 Case – $54.95 Free Ship

Asus TS-Mini Soho with Free 1TB hard drive with promo code EMCYPYX73, ends 3/15 – $329.99 Free Ship

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Antec Three Hundred Black Computer Case

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASUS TS Mini SOHO Home Server w/ Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz 1GB DDR2 500GB HDD installed, powered by Windows Home Server

Popularity: 5% [?]

Weekend Deals

How about some deals for the weekend?  We all need some more storage right?  How about a sweet 2TB drive for $149.99 or an external DVD reader/writer for $44.99.  There is even a good deal on some smaller size drives if you are thinking about firing up a test server.

Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Use this promo code at checkout to bring the price down to $149.99.  Free shipping too!  Code:  EMCYPYS44

I use the following external DVD drive on my MediaSmart Server so it comes easy to recommend.  No external power brick required.  A single USB port will power it for reading.  Use the supplied Y USB cable to power it for burning DVD’s.

SAMSUNG USB 2.0 Slim External DVD Writer Model SE-S084C – It’s $44.99 with free shipping.  No code needed.  If you look around in Best Buy. Radio Shack, Wal-Mart or another typical big box store you will see comparable external drives for $89 to $99.  They must make a killing off of these things.  I love this little Samsung drive.  It has performed great and it travels well too.

Have you ever thought about using some old PC hardware as a test server?  How about a

Western Digital Caviar Blue 320GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive for $44.99?  Use code EMCYPYS43 to get this price and free shipping.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Icy Dock New Product Showcase

We have been talking a lot about the Icy Dock products this week.  We posted three reviews of their products with one more on the way and a podcast dedicated to discussing those reviews.  The conversation has also spilled over into our forums with a representative from Icy Dock fielding questions.

I would also like to share with you an Icy Dock post from their community blog.  It’s a quick look at a part of the items they brought to CES2010.

You can read that post here.

or

Head over to the Icy Dock site.

*by no means has Icy Dock sponsored or requested coverage on this blog.  They just make some cool stuff that we geek out on!

How is this not cool?

Popularity: 5% [?]

Icy Dock MB881 2.5 and 3.5 SATA Hard Drive Docking Station

This is the Icy Dock MB881US-1S-1 SATA hard drive docking station.

What you will first notice about this docking station is that it is completely different from any of the other “mini toaster” looking hard drive docks.  Not only does it’s looks set it apart but it’s versatility also stands above the crowd compared to all other docking stations I’ve used.  I’ll tell you why in this review.

The Unboxing

It came to me in a clear plastic container showing off it’s largest components.  The dock itself and a black carrying case.

I was wondering what the green arm was for even before I got it out of the box.  Here is the stand fresh out of the package.

The case, or protective pouch as Icy Dock calls it, was loaded with the USB and eSATA cable.

The bottom of the package contained the rest of its contents.

The external power adapter, SATA to eSATA port for your computer, and the instruction booklet.

It’s contents are as follows:

• Drive Stand
• AC Adapter
• Power Cord
• eSATA Cable
• USB 2.0 Y Cable
• Protective Pouch
• Single Port eSATA Bracket

I was anxious to get it fired up on my Windows Home Server but started fiddling with the drive stand and found that the green stand is removable.  This is by design which allows you to detach the stand with a 2.5” hard drive attached and transport it with the protective pouch.  That is certainly a selling point if you have a 2.5” drive that you would like to make portable.

In this review I’ll be using a 3.5” drive.

Beyond the design differences, it’s still a hard drive dock.  It can be used with your computer via USB and eSATA with the external power brick or it can be used with the supplied USB Y cable which allows you to power the unit.  I don’t like using two USB ports to power a drive but if you want to forgo the external power brick at least you have that choice.  If you don’t have an eSATA port you will have to crack your PC case and install the bracket.  The bracket’s cable measures roughly 11” long so it should reach any SATA port on your motherboard.  It’s a straight connector so some distance may be lost by plugging it in to your motherboards SATA port.  I also like the power switch on the front of the unit.  If you’re not going to use the drive in your storage pool you can power it down to save energy costs.

The unit feels solid too.  I’ve held some cheap plastic docks and this feels nothing like that.  It’s a nicely made product.

Using the Icy Dock with your Windows Home Server

If you are like me you are always looking to upgrade storage in your Windows Home Server.  I replace small hard drives with larger ones and this always leaves me with a couple of drives laying around.  With this dock you can put them to good use backing up shares or using BDBB to make an external copy of your backup database.  Take a look at my server setup.

The top drive is listed as a “Non Storage Hard Drive.”  This is the Icy Dock.

Another view of my storage can be seen via the Disk Management Add-In.

The Icy Dock is at the bottom in this shot.  It shows up as an unmanaged disk which allows you to use Add-In’s like BDBB to create, “Backups of your Backups.”  I’m using the Icy Dock and a 500Gb drive to do just that.

You can see here in the WHS BDBB settings tab that the J: drive is the one I am using.  That’s the Icy Dock.  You can use a single drive with your Windows Home Server or rotate hard drives to perform different functions.  I will also use the dock to backup a couple of my Shared Folders for additional redundancy.

USB vs. eSATA

The obvious answer to this question is speed.  The eSATA spec is up to 3 Gb/s and USB 2.0 is at 480Mbits/s(60MB/sec).  My personal issue with the eSATA port is that I am using the MediaSmart Server so there is only one of these ports available.  If I continue to use the dock via the eSATA port I won’t be able to upgrade my storage pool with the many available port multiplier products on the market.  If you take a closer look at my storage situation I am in need of some larger drives or a port multiplier solution.

A positive note about using the eSATA port beyond the speed gain is the ability to get SMART data off of the drive.  This is not possible via USB.

This shot shows you the HomeServer SMART add-in with the data about the drive in the Icy Dock.  A comparison shot is the USB drive I have attached to the server.

There is no SMART data on this drive.  USB simply does not support it.

Using the Dock

Once you have decided where you will use, what port you will use and how you will power it you simply need to add a hard drive.  My 3.5” drive slid nicely down the dock and into place.  There is a ridge on the left hand side of the dock that guide the drive into place without any fear of messing up pins or connectors.

You will inevitably want to face the drive to you or to the front of your equipment and that makes the cables have to bend and route back.  This is all dependant upon your setup but you can see the cable routing in photo.

You can see in this photo that I’m using the eSATA connection which is the flat cable.  The power connector is below it.  The power plug on the unit is in a tight spot.  It can’t be plugged in blindly.  You will have to turn it sideways and “eyeball” it in.

The USB port is on the opposite side of the unit and is also very easy to get to.

This photo shows the dock removed from the stand and in the protective case.  A 2.5” hard drive can remain mounted to the dock and inside the case for travel.  I’ve seen in some reviews where there is a concern for the dock tipping over.  I would discount those concerns mainly because your interaction with the dock is primarily seating and unseating drives into it.  It will remain on a flat surface just fine.

Pro’s

On/Off Switch.

Portable Design.

Solid design.  Does not feel cheap like other external docks.

Con’s

Will it tip over?

Power plug in an awkward spot.

Higher cost than ‘most’ competitor docks.

Conclusion

You might say that hard drive docks are “a dime a dozen” as the old saying goes. I think most would pick a dock for either the port they have in their system (USB/eSata/FW) or the size hard drive they have to use with the dock initially. (2.5” or 3.5”) Beyond that I think price is going to be the major factor in a dock decision.  Perhaps Free Shipping from the vendor may persuade you.  They Icy Dock comes in at the higher end of the price range although not the highest I found.  It does however, offer more for your dollar at that price range.

The Icy Dock certainly looks better than their competitors.  Honestly, some of the other docks are butt-ugly.  But, does that matter?  It’s just a dock right?  To some it might.

I think it comes down to price, function, and quality.  Does the dock have the features you want compared to the cost you are comfortable with?  I don’t think you can find much better in the area of quality when it comes to this dock compared to others.  It’s simply a well made product.  If you look around hard enough you can find this dock in a comparable price range to others.  I say…shop frugal, but always shop smart.  This one will be worth the money paid for it.

Manufacturer Website

Product Website

Where to buy

Amazon – Icy Dock MB881

NewEgg – ICY DOCK MB881US-1S-1 HDD Docking Station Enclosure for Mac & PC

by: David McCabe, homeservershow.com

FTC Disclosure:  Icy Dock has not asked for this unit back so I continue to use it.  That had no effect on the review however. (I’ll update this spot if/when this status changes)

Popularity: 8% [?]

HD HomeRun $126 with Free Shipping at Amazon

I’m a converted fan of the HDHR so when I see a good deal on one I like to pass it on.  Amazon has it for $126 with free shipping if you are a Prime member.  If you shop as much as I do you will want to sign up for prime!  The first month is free so it’s easy to try.  More info on Prime below.

SiliconDust HDHomeRun HDHR-US Dual Networked High Definition Digital Television (White)

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Here is the antenna I use.  It’s a long range variety.  I recommend using antennaweb.org to find the color you need.
Channel Master 4228HD Long-Range Outdoor Rooftop HDTV Antenna

If you are on the fringe of reception I also recommend a pre-amp.
Winegard AP-8700 U/V Pre Amplifier for Antenna

If you need a distribution amplifier for long runs within your home I recommend the PCT one.  There are several flavors but here is what I use.  You have to be careful not to overdrive the signal.  It is not intended for use with a Pre-amp but if you have long runs within the home you can reduce signal degradation with this gem.

4 PORT CABLE TV / HDTV / DIGITAL AMPLIFIER INTERNET MODEM SIGNAL BOOSTER INTERNET AMP

Popularity: 9% [?]

Storage Deals

Deals, Deals, Deals!

A Western Digital Black 750GB for $65.  The Asus Mini Home Server for $299 plus a $30 gift card.  Samsung EcoGreen 1.5TB for $99.99.  There are also a few external storage boxes from Rosewill that are marked down.  Add some external storage via eSata.

Western Digital Caviar Black 750GB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -Bare Drive

ASUS TS Mini SOHO Home Server w/ Intel Atom N280 1.66GHz 1GB DDR2 500GB HDD installed, powered by Windows Home Server

SAMSUNG EcoGreen F2 1.5TB 3.5″ SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive

Rosewill RSV-S4-X 4 Bay SATA to eSATA (Port Multiplier) JBOD / RAID 0, 1, 1+0, 5 Enclosure

Rosewill R2S-B Black External Enclosure

Popularity: 6% [?]

Awesome Apartment Setup with Media Center and Windows Home Server

Here is another reason you need to check out the forums at homeservershow.com.  JVK has a post that shows his frankenbuild setup throughout his apartment full of Windows Home Server, Media Center, and even a computer built into a little valet chest.

So I went to Ross (like a TJ Maxx) and found the perfect dresser valet that would fit a Mini-itx motherboard. Cheapest computer case I have ever bought at $11.99! A little drilling and a lot of cutting later, another pc was born.

Thank you for the post JVK.  You can see all the photos and information here.

Popularity: 10% [?]

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