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TiVo Video Extraction with Mac OS X

Posted by pudge on from the extract-me-with-the-network-of-love dept.

Arf4 writes "I recently published an article that describes extracting video from a TiVo Series 1 digital video recorder. I have been searching the boards for info on a Mac OS X solution, but came up blank. After experimenting with my iBook I figured out a way to do it. Using nothing more than a TiVo and Mac OS X (plus a few other free goodies), you can start backing up the latest Alias or Simpsons." Well, and a network card.

59 comments

  1. Cool trick, wish I could use it by jht · · Score: 1

    Sadly, I have a Series 2 Tivo, otherwise I'd be heading home at lunchtime today and rigging it all up.

    I wonder if the newly announced broadband service for Series 2 will be a foot in the door towards doing this sort of operation there, too?

    --
    -- Josh Turiel
    "2. Do not eat iPod Shuffle."
  2. Series 2? by jlower · · Score: 1

    Will this not work with the Series 2? I just traded my old Series 1 standalone for a Series 2 DirecTiVo. I haven't connected it to my network yet but this could certainly be a great incentive to do so.

    1. Re:Series 2? by jspayne · · Score: 4, Informative
      Will this not work with the Series 2?

      This will not work because you cannot install any hacker tools on the S2. All the files are digitally signed, and the TiVo will blow away anything on root that doesn't check out (either modified or not supposed to be there) on boot up.

      On the other hand, you can still yank the drive from the TiVo, mount it in Linux, and run some extraction tools from there...but that wouldn't go in the "Apple" section.

      Jeff

  3. TiVo is dying by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

    ...they've just pulled out of the UK. Don't back this horse, kids.

    --
    That was classic intercourse!
    1. Re:TiVo is dying by Textbook+Error · · Score: 1

      Um, no - Thomson stopped manufacturing PAL boxes last year, and Tivo UK are still looking for a new supplier. Or do you have a more recent source?

      --

      Nae bother
    2. Re:TiVo is dying by Alan+Partridge · · Score: 1

      "Personal video recorder (PVR) Tivo has been pulled out of the Uk in a move which will cast doubt over the viability of PVRs as standalone devices."

      Broadcast, 31st January 2003

      that's my source, doesn't mean it's true though!

      --
      That was classic intercourse!
    3. Re:TiVo is dying by berniecase · · Score: 2, Informative

      http://news.zdnet.co.uk/story/0,,t269-s2129912,00. html

      The digital video recorder company will no longer manufacture new devices for the UK, but will continue to support existing customers.

  4. I'd like to by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thank you!!!

    Now if some nice programmer would create an GUI for the rest of us.....not that I have a problem using the T ;).

  5. Build your own by Fished · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I looked at the whole Tivo thing, and came to the conclusion that I would be better served to build my own using a linux box and either mythtv or freevo. The box also doubles as my household server, uses a WinTV card and a Geforce 2 to do video, plays cd's, plays arcade games, plays dvd's, rips cd's, burns vcds, etc. Still working on the integration a bit, but so far it is very nice. And all for about the same price as the tivo hardware without the monthly service fee. (Although I could definitely use a larger hard drive at this point.)

    Think different, oh thou geekish ones!

    --
    "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
    1. Re:Build your own by micromoog · · Score: 2, Insightful
      And all for about the same price as the tivo hardware without the monthly service fee.

      And without the monthly service, which is what makes Tivo worthwhile in the first place for many people.

    2. Re:Build your own by Fished · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yeah, I can get tv schedules (using xmltv). I can record. Does it automatically record stuff it thinks I want? No - but it does many nicer things.

      --
      "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
    3. Re:Build your own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      LOL This did make laugh! Thanks! Almost as bad as my Mac Color Classic running Mac OS 7.6.1 rigged up to an old YoYo caller ID contraption as my caller ID box. Does a whole lot more than any caller ID on the market today but damn...what a mess! ;-)

    4. Re:Build your own by Piquan · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I keep hearing this from different people. I do a lot of replacing stuff with alternatives. For example, I don't have Windows, I have FreeBSD w/ OpenOffice, etc. But as a TiVo user, I don't think that I could switch to a computer-based solution.

      There's just something about sitting down at the TV with a remote that can't be replaced. Also, there's something about the TiVo user interface that I think would become a lot more difficult in the translation to a computer.

      It's not just about recording shows. It's about changing the way you watch TV.

    5. Re:Build your own by Fished · · Score: 1

      mythtv supports remotes. and implements a full-screen interface very much like that of the tivo. It is kind of a pain to get working -- lots of prerequisites -- but, hey, whaddaya want for free?

      --
      "He who would learn astronomy, and other recondite arts, let him go elsewhere. " -- John Calvin, commenting on Genesis 1
    6. Re:Build your own by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Could somebody enlighten me on expansions of the Apple computers: can you get TV cards (preferably digital TV) for the iMac?
      More specifically I'm looking for the HMP standard cards (I live in Finland). Currently my PC doubles as a TV, and I think an iMac could be ideal for that (with the easily adjustable screen).

    7. Re:Build your own by Sloppy · · Score: 1
      There's just something about sitting down at the TV with a remote that can't be replaced.
      Your Tivo is just a computer too, ya know. It's not the only computer that has menus and remote control and TV output. Tivo's interface is good, but the good things can be copied.

      The nice thing about an Open solution, is that the commercially-motivated bad things (e.g. my Tivo always has an ad on the main menu nowdays) won't be copied. Keep in mind: Slashdot ran this story because, deep down, there is something unfriendly about the Tivo. Slashdot isn't going to run a story that some clever elite hacker used the cp command or dragged an icon, to extract video from their homebrew PVR.

      --
      As copyright owner of this comment, I authorize everyone to defeat any technological measure which limits access to it.
    8. Re:Build your own by Golias · · Score: 1
      IIRC, a company caled Formac once made an expansion card for the old Rev A iMac that included TV input. For any iMac, iBook, or Powerbook after that, your best bet is a TV tuner in an external box connected by USB or Firewire. There are several such creatures out there if you shop around.

      The iMac came out a few years after I was out of college, but I couldn't help but notice that, with a TV tuner, it would have been the ultimate dorm room computer, because it could pretty much do the work of every single electronic device in my old dorm (and there were a lot of them) while taking up a tiny fraction of the space.

      You know, the "Generation Y" kids have it pretty damned good. They missed the Cold War, they had iMacs and broadband available in college, and they don't need to take the heat from all the Baby Boomers for failing to continue their precious little social revolution, because we Xers took care of that for them. :)

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

  6. Nice. by berniecase · · Score: 1

    My TurboNET adapter's on the way. I originally bought it to enable broadband guide data downloads (so I can get rid of my phone line). Looks like I have a new reason now...

  7. There's a reason for this... by OneFix · · Score: 4, Insightful

    TiVo has been very good to the hacking community...they have supported efforts to add broadband functionality (including adding support to new software revisions), recompile of kernels, ftp and http support, extra harddrive, etc...

    But the reason why they have been hesitant to support the reading (and backup) of the recorded video is that they are concerned with implications of distribution. The first and most obvious reason is that if someone can distribute commercial free recordings of TV shows recorded directly from a TiVo it could be argued that it is helping to facilitate piracy. The other reason would be that it would hurt sales...if you can get new episodes from your TiVo owning friend, why buy a TiVo???

    As such, most respectable members of the hacking community will not encourage this hack...which is really a testament to the advantages of a company working with the hacking community.

    1. Re:There's a reason for this... by duggy_92127 · · Score: 3, Informative
      As such, most respectable members of the hacking community will not encourage this hack.

      I must disagree. Just as ripping a CD to a bunch of OGG files doesn't mean you're putting them up on Kazaa, ripping your saved shows onto a computer doesn't mean you're putting them up on Kazaa.

      I understand TiVo not wanting anything to do with it, which is why discussion about it is banned on the TiVo forums. But that doesn't make the practice bad, or hurtful to TiVo if we do it ourselves.

      The other taboo subject, replacing TiVo's program guide with one from a free source, falls squarely into the catagory of things respectable members of the hacking community should avoid. That takes money directly from TiVo's pocket, from a company that's been very good to us.

      Doug

    2. Re:There's a reason for this... by o1d5ch001 · · Score: 1

      ..if you can get new episodes from your TiVo owning friend, why buy a TiVo???

      If I could borrow a cooking pot from my mother, why would I buy my own?
      If I could borrow a CD why would I buy my own (although lots of people do...)
      If I could borrow a vhs tape of my friends taping of Altons Browns latest diatribe on protiens and salt, why would I watch the show? But I would watch the show and I would buy the DVD if it was good programming!!

      --
      Q. What is Calvin's monster snowman called? A. The Torment Of Existence Weighed Against The Horror of Non Being
    3. Re:There's a reason for this... by OneFix · · Score: 1

      If I could borrow a cooking pot from my mother, why would I buy my own?

      Huh??? This is physical...I'm not talking about borrowing...I'm talking about distributing...if your mom gives you her cooking pot, she can't use it...but if you copy a video of a show, you can both watch it...

      If I could borrow a CD why would I buy my own (although lots of people do...)

      Yea, of course noone listens to MP3s ripped from this CD do they?

      If I could borrow a vhs tape of my friends taping of Altons Browns latest diatribe on protiens and salt, why would I watch the show? But I would watch the show and I would buy the DVD if it was good programming!!

      Well, there is some advantage to watching new shows...because if it's very popular, everyone's gonna be talking about it tommorrow...

      But I think the widespread distribution of ripped DVDs and Telecined/Telesynced first-run movies tells you this answer...

      And why would you buy DVDs? Well, extra features, higher quality, and no commercials for a start...

    4. Re:There's a reason for this... by OneFix · · Score: 1

      I wasn't suggesting that this policy is correct, but just that the hacking community respects their wishes...

    5. Re:There's a reason for this... by Large+Green+Mallard · · Score: 1

      Tridge doesn't ;)

      http://tivo.samba.org ;)

  8. I also have the ethernet card... by schwachs · · Score: 1

    and just haven't gotten around to install it. this is certainly the motivation needed. the poster above points out it's cheaper to 'roll your own' which I believe would be the case but for most users, this is probably a lot more than they either have time for or the skills to created while this hack is relatively straightforward for one who's ambitious but not necessarily a linux guru.
    -- joshua
    -- http://www.joshua.com

  9. ReplayTV has a java based program for extracting.. by Scyber · · Score: 5, Informative

    http://dvarchive.sf.net Only for the newer models with built in ethernet. 2.0 should be released soon (next week) which will add some new features.

  10. How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by kerry-buckley · · Score: 1

    Has anyone had any success upgrading a TiVo (adding a larger HD, installing software for the TurboNet card etc) using a Mac? Given that the TiVo runs Linux on a PPC processor, it seems a little ironic that I'll have to get my hands on a Wintel box to upgrade it, when I have perfectly good OS9, OSX and LinuxPPC machines available.

    1. Re:How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      check

      visit www.tivofaq.com and look into upgrade

      I did this and it was really easy. Best to have an ez openmac with spare hard disk cables. You also need a hard drive rack available on ebay

    2. Re:How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by Battal+Boy · · Score: 5, Informative

      It is possible. VersionTracker has a freeware utility for formatting and blessing a Tivo drive on Mac OS X, if you want to upgrade your Tivo drive(s). Also almost all tutorials for doing such things on LINUX will work for OS X as well, as they use the"dd" utility.

      Also check out TiVoFerkey, an interesting remote Tivo interface for controlling Tivo from your Mac.

      --

      A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist...
    3. Re:How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The first upgrade I did, I used a Mac with LinuxPPC installed to do the backup (with dd) and MacTiVo Blesser under Mac OS 9 to do the blessing of the upgrade drive. But at the time, the blesser wasn't blessing as byteswapped like the TiVo expects, so I then used LinuxPPC to byteswap the data on the upgrade drive.

      Unfortunately, the good tools have only been developed for Linux on PCs, and the really good ones (such as the ones that make backups that will fit on one CD or that fully utilize the capacity of two large drives for video storage) aren't open source. Those who use Macs exclusively still have to make huge (multi-CD or DVD) backups and can't replace their TiVo's original drive with a larger one, only add a big second drive.

      It's worth getting a cheap, dinky PC with two ATA buses and a CD-ROM drive that the TiVo tools CD will boot. Preferably one that lets you easily swap out hard drives. Maybe a 3.5" disk drive too for the situations where you may need to image a married system to two new drives and can't use the CD-ROM (or three ATA buses).

      Either that or donate some (Mac OS X capable) Macs to the people writing the tools so they can develop for the platform.

    4. Re:How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      I have upgraded my Series 1 with MacTivo (http://www.weaknees.com/mactivo.html). Unbelieveably easy. Plugged the HD into the G4, ran MacTivo(30sec.), put the HD in the Tivo, all done!

    5. Re:How about upgrading TiVo with a Mac? by kerry-buckley · · Score: 1

      Sorry, forgot to mention it's a UK model (Thompson) TiVo, which seems to be the hardest of all to upgrade. Looks like my options are to either borrow a PC or buy a ready-configured drive.

  11. Tivo 2 has Rendezvous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative
    You don't need to do it on Tivo 2 with a Mac: http://www.apple.com/macosx/jaguar/rendezvous.html

    ?TiVo?s upcoming premium service package will use Rendezvous technology to automatically discover Macintosh computers within the home network and determine which services they provide, allowing customers to listen to their shared music or view their shared photos on their TV,? said Jim Barton, Co-founder and CTO for TiVo. ?We are excited about working with Apple on other ways Rendezvous can help TiVo Series2 DVRs connect to a Mac to deliver future services.?

    1. Re:Tivo 2 has Rendezvous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      But TiVo Series2 Rendezvous support is all about bringing content from the Mac into the TiVo, not extracting video from the TiVo into the Mac. I'm sure they'll try their best to keep that direction of data transfer restricted.

  12. um... by Triv · · Score: 1

    Well, and a network card

    I might be misinterpreting this, but isn't it pretty unlikely to be running OS X on a system without an ethernet card built-in?

    Triv

    1. Re:um... by LordNimon · · Score: 2, Informative

      They mean a network card on the TiVo, not the Mac.

      --
      And the men who hold high places must be the ones who start
      To mold a new reality... closer to the heart
    2. Re:um... by Battal+Boy · · Score: 1

      No, no... He means a network card for the TIVO.

      --

      A cynic is what an idealist calls a realist...
  13. No different... by duggy_92127 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    This is no different from how I've been doing it for a goodly while now on my Linux box. They've just compiled the tools for OS X, that's all.

    I'm working on a version of the tools that will show you the listing in your console, let you select a show, and will stream the .ty, translate to .mpeg on the fly, and then either save that stream or use something (mplayer, perhaps) to recode to another codec (DivX, anyone?).

    And it's written entirely in Perl, so it should run anywhere Perl does. If anybody's interested in looking at it, pop me an email; I'd be especially interested in hearing from people with knowledge of the MPEG2 format.

    Doug

  14. Mirror! by Arf4 · · Score: 2, Informative

    My friend, Joe, kindly posted a mirror for this site in case it becomes unreachable...

  15. Formac StudioDV/TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Formac has a device that will turn your Mac into a TiVo-equivalent. It's pricey, $399. Here's the product description from their website:

    Formac studio dv/tv turns your Mac into a fully functional TV and a high-quality digital VCR. Watch up to 125 channels in a scalable window or full-screen. The studio tvr software* allows you to record your favorite TV shows at any time and day, even if you are not at home (via remote scheduling). Use TitanTV's website to receive an up-to-date online program guide for your region, and use the one-step scheduling feature to record your favorite shows. Movies can also be recorded from and to any video device with RCA or S-VHS connectors, such as a standard VCR, Camcorder or DVD player. All movies are captured in high quality digital video (DV).

    1. Re:Formac StudioDV/TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Whenever I need to get a file from my Tivo, I just use my digital camcorder to "read" my Tivo and "firewire" it to my Mac.

    2. Re:Formac StudioDV/TV by bnenning · · Score: 1

      Sounds very similar to EyeTV, except at double the price.

      --
      How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
    3. Re:Formac StudioDV/TV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, but you need to keep in mind that EyeTV stores it's video in a very low quality mpeg1 (vcd quality) strem, where as the Formac studio dv/tv stores its video as a hight quality dv stream.

    4. Re:Formac StudioDV/TV by ALpaca2500 · · Score: 1

      also note that formac uses firewire and eyetv uses usb. firewire = teh rox, usb = teh sux. (for video, anyway)

  16. who is more viable: Tivo or Replay by delorean · · Score: 1
    I'm considering getting Tivo (S2?) or replaytv.

    Primary concern: no stupid telephone callouts, so Tivo S2 would be easy.

    Secondary: can I extract at some point if I want to?

    So, Replaytv would possible do it all-- but are they viable enough?

    --
    "You may all go to hell and I will go to Texas"
     Sen. Davy Crocket to US Congress, Nov. 1, 1835
  17. if anyone has a replayTV by zephc · · Score: 4, Informative

    and OSX (or windows or linux) I suggest getting the command line program replayPC.

    Basically, ReplayTV has its own little web server, and you can browse the contents of the drive with correct arsg to the httpfs cgi

    All the video is stored in the /Video directory, and is named by the timestamp (though doing an 'ls' via httpfs lets you view the date in human readable form, so u can guess which show is which.

    The only downside I've found in limited experimenting: after recording an episode of MST3K (2 hours) at lowest ('Standard') quality, it was a 2 GB xfer over the network. You'll have to reencode these movies yourself, to divx or whatever.

    Something else i noticed: replay TV will report it's IP with prepended zeros, eg. 123.234.120.012 rathaer than 123.234.120.012, and that seems to make a difference in whether or not I can connect to it (explanations anyone?)

    --
    "I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
    1. Re:if anyone has a replayTV by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oops, that 2nd ip was supposed to read '123.234.120.12' =]

  18. Far more complicated than necessary by vincent99 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    That's how I extracted stuff 2 years ago, but it's far more complicated than necessary today; Get the MFSStream module for TiVoWeb, you click on a show and your browser downloads the tystream.

    --
    -- V
  19. What's that in your dock? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You might want to redo those screenshots. It might not be wise to show screenshots of ripping video to a computer that has Limewire installed and in the Dock. People might get the impression you're vidnapstering.

  20. Firewire by djupedal · · Score: 1

    I thought the TiVo's had Firewire? ...networking (TCP/IP) has been entirely possible via Firewire for some time now. Of course, this assumes TiVo software speaks this particular dialect.

    1. Re:Firewire by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, ReplayTV originally shipped with a Firewire port, but it was inactive. It was never activated and was not present on future models. There were never any Firewire ports on TiVos.

      The only networking ports on the TiVo are the phone jack for the internal modem and the serial port intended for controlling an external DirecTV receiver.

      The network adapter you get for Series1 TiVos slip onto a card edge connector on the motherboard. This connector is used by TiVo for diagnostics. The adapter just provides the ethernet connection that would be present on the diagnostic system, and so the drivers are in the kernel already. TiVo is just kind enough to (unofficially) support this use by incorporating a method to tell the interface to use the network adapter rather than the modem port, saving TiVo money in leased dial-up access.

      Series2 TiVos also have a USB port upon which you could put an ethernet adapter, and this too is (unofficially) supported by TiVo via the same method. But the Series2 is still locked down. You'd need to compromise the BIOS-stored signature of the RAM disk image to do any real hacks on the Series2. At most ethernet gets you on Series2 is a way to free yourself of your phone line or work around a fried modem.

  21. Who's TiVO? by lamz · · Score: 1

    The Daily Show, Joe Millionaire, The Simpsons, The Man Show...

    I think that guy figured out how to hook up to MY PVR!

    --

    Mike van Lammeren
    It will challenge your head, your brain, and your mind.

  22. I wanna see.. by l0wland · · Score: 1

    ...the rest of that chick on your desktop (the one with the translucent Terminal windows on it) . ;-)

    --

    "Honey, I feel a certain distance between us..." "Really? A 31ms ping ain't that bad..."
  23. You may still be able to use your Mac... by kommakazi · · Score: 1

    Why not just rip the drive and mount it under OS X? Unless Tivo drives are in some format OS X cannot read, does anyone know?

    1. Re:You may still be able to use your Mac... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      TiVos uses ext2 partitions for their root and /var systems, but video isn't stored there. Recorded video goes into their proprietary MFS partitions which have their own support for extensible RAID-like volumes (which is why you can "marry" a second drive to your TiVo, but also why you can't simply "divorce" drives just by removing one).

      There are tools that will read MFS for PCs running Linux, but their functionality is deliberately limited to backup purposes and renegotiating drive marriages, not extraction.

      Additionally, even though TiVos use Apple-style partitioning, they have a different magic number and are byteswap'd (as-in "ybetwspad'") volumes, so it would be difficult to even mount the ext2 partitions under Mac OS X.