Home-Grown TiVo Stories?

PolyDwarf writes "I'm in the process of figuring out how I'm going to build a homegrown TiVo machine (i.e. a computer sitting next to or in my home electronics stack). My question for is "What's worked best for you?" Most solutions I've researched are great if you have regular cable. However, satellite systems and digital cable boxes seem to present a special challenge, in that the software on the PC needs to know about an IR connector that is then hooked up to the front of the digital cable/satellite box. Who has done a solution like what I'm researching? What cases/processors/memory/TV Card/IR transceiver/OS/software/etc worked out for you? Did the end result justify the pain and hassle?"

Comments

Buy a Tivo

[pgrote]

How many of these topics will we see?

They are $200 and you save time, money and effort. Even the geek effect isn't worth it this time.

Spend the money and help a company.

Here's a list of sites that can help if you're married to doing this:
Freevo
XMLTV

Re:Buy a Tivo

[niai]

You cannot watch XVID, DIVX, real streams, or wmp streams using your TIVO.

Re:Buy a Tivo

[elmegil]

And you will be stuck paying a monthly fee to the service provider until they go out of business, you may be locked into firmware upgrades which may restrict your ability to do things like skipping commercials, etc.

Personally, I prefer the idea of building something that I know I have full rights to modify as I see fit and don't have to pay perpetual fees for.

Re:Buy a Tivo

[pgrote]

That's great. So, can I have some of the time you have?

It's well worth it for me to have the best device invented since the car FREE MY TIME and no longer FORCE ME TO BE A SLAVE to the TV programming gods.

$4.99 a month and all I had to do was plug it in, connect three cables and turn it on. Kick ass. Count me in.

As for being a more open platform, check out:

Tivo Forums

Re:Buy a Tivo

[merlyn]

You also don't get the quality of the program guide if you don't buy a TiVo and subscribe to their service. I've seen the public ones. No other guide service comes close to what I get from my TiVo.

Re:Buy a Tivo

[Cramer]

• If you build it yourself it'll do what you want.

No, it will do what ever you know how to make it do (or can get someone else to do for you.)

just buy a damn tivo

[Naikrovek]

they're not THAT expensive, and its probably not worth the effort at all to try and duplicate all that functionality.

I suppose its one thing if you want to do this for the purposes of learning how to do it, but if you're going to build it to try and save money, just buy a tivo. you're going to wind up spending as much or more money and a LOT of time fine-tuning everything to your preference, and working out little bugs with a self-built solution.

so, unless this is a project that's more about the journey than the destination, get a tivo.

Re:just buy a damn tivo

[Anonymous Coward]

Not sure if you own a tivo or not but one or two comments came to mind

$13 monthly fee.
- please, that's nothing.
If TiVo goes out of business, you're screwed.
- with investment from Sony, RCA and DirecTV that's hardly likely.
TiVo doesn't remember what shows you've seen, so it keeps recording the same ones over and over.
-no it doesn't tivo will only record a show if there hasn't been another showing of it within the last 30 days
TiVo doesn't understand that there might be multiple people who use the same TiVo. Therefore there's no way to tell it that one person is ready to delete a program but the other person isn't.
- when the hell is that going to happen? The art of conversation is clearly dead.
If you want to record two shows simultaneously and don't have DirecTV, you need to get two TiVos (which is fine) but you also have to pay two monthly fees.
-Also not true, tivo even has an article on their own site on how to record two shows simultaneously.
TiVo requires a phone line. Wrong again, mine works through my DSL via an 802.11b connection It's hard to add storage space to a TiVo. You have to crack the case, remove the existing drive, and replace it with a new one.
- this may be true but a) 80 hours is a long time, b) the new home media versions allow you to pull content off to another device

Re:just buy a damn tivo

[Anonymous Coward]

$13 monthly fee.

Yeah. So? You can also pay $300 for a lifetime subscription. Pays for itself after a couple of years. Two years may be a long time but it's not like we're going to be seeing any major changes in that time.

If TiVo goes out of business, you're screwed.

Depends. I suspect that they will have to take lifetime subscriptions into account and provide support for the expected lifetime of the product (4 years last time I checked).

TiVo doesn't remember what shows you've seen, so it keeps recording the same ones over and over.

It keeps track of the last 28 days of programming. If an episode airs again >28 days later (and your unit is set up to record that program), it will record it again. So what? Nobody's forcing you to watch it again. Delete it.

If you want to record two shows simultaneously and don't have DirecTV, you need to get two TiVos (which is fine) but you also have to pay two monthly fees.

Yeah. So? Multi-tuner home built systems are few and far between. Good luck actually building one and getting it to work well.

TiVo requires a phone line.

Bzzzt! Thanks for playing. Here's a look at our parting gifts. Only the oldest Tivos need a phone line and even those only need it to get upgraded to the current software revision. There are network adaptors for both series 1 and series 2 units. Support is built in for all machines running 3.0 or higher. (4.0 is the current version and many new units are shipping with 3.2.)

It's hard to add storage space to a TiVo. You have to crack the case, remove the existing drive, and replace it with a new one.

Yeah. So? Like that's harder than building a PVR from scratch? Use your head.

Tivo-like

[Gonoff]

He wants a computer based PVR, not TIVO. Happily, TIVO has not copyrighted the concept (yet).

Sounds like you want something small, silent and with one of those nice Hauppage cards - and a really big HDD!

Re:What Ever Happened???

[Nugget]

What happened?

VCRs are being replaced by better technology that does more, better, and provide a much more useful experience. VCRs perform only a small portion of what a PVR does that it's really unfair to compare them.

The real win of a PVR is being completely insulated from scheduling and the learning capabilities which are able to record programs which you'll enjoy but aren't aware of yet.

If you want a Tivo, buy a Tivo.

[Anonymous Coward]

Seriously. It works.

I tried to roll my own. I bought an ATI 8500DV specifically because they touted their awesome TV-on-Demand capabilities. Seemed perfect.

8500DV: $235

Until I tried to use the damn thing. Oh. It doesn't work well with my motherboard. I was planning to upgrade anyway.

Refurb motherboard: $50
XP1800+: $95
ATX Case: $40
DDR RAM: $100

Okay. We're up and running. TV-on-Demand works great. Scheduling recordings isn't that good, tho. The software's pretty bad. Can't do anything automatically. Can't clear out old searches. No conflict resolution. Only a week's worth of data. And it sure wasn't cheaper than a Tivo when I figure in the cost of the new PC. But I can handle setting up scheduled recordings once a week. And the live TV stuff is great.

Oh. The live TV stuff stops working if the machine's been running for a few hours. Maybe I should upgrade to the latest drivers and software. Great. Now it doesn't work with one of my games. Try a different version. Now TV-on-Demand is worse. Try a different version. Hey! Finally have a setting that spits out SVCD format. Too bad TV-on-Demand is totally broken now.

And so began the downward spiral. After a few weeks, I just bought a damn Tivo. $200 for the unit, $80 for a network adapter (series 1), $250 for lifetime service. About what I spent on the computer solution with one major difference. IT WORKS. I can leave it alone for days, weeks, months at a time.

Re:What Ever Happened???

[Evil Adrian]

Even if a person is just "recording stuff" a VCR is a suboptimal solution in the face of constantly shifting network schedules and preemptions. There's a vast chasm of difference between telling a device "I sure like that show 'Ed'. If it comes on (and only if it's a new episode) please record it." and telling a device "record whatever is on channel 9 on Fridays at 8:00pm. If the schedule changes I'll be sure to remember to update it."

Try that for more than two or three programs and you've graduated to needing multiple VCRs or devising a complex tape-changing ritual to ensure they all get recorded.

How often do shows get shifted around to make it an inconvenience, though? It doesn't happen often enough to warrant spending four times the money -- if you think it does, you either watch too much TV or you're too sensitive. ;-)

Re:MythTV is great

[ilsie]

Series 2 40 hour refurbed TiVo- $150 AR
120GB Maxtor Fluid Dynamic Bearings 5400RPM HD - $130 (Just using the same HD you did for clarity)
Lifetime Service- $250
Total : $530

Mine does all kinds of fancy ff/rew/pause, I can easily schedule all recordings, etc., I can have TiVo tell me what to watch (I dont, but I could), I have 30-sec commercial skip, and I have a really nice remote that is extremely well designed and always works.

To be honest, I could really care less about MP3s and emulators and such, I already have a PC and a Mac that can stream MP3s, an Xbox (and a PC and a Mac) that will play emulators/games (and can also stream MP3, vorbis, divx, etc etc etc etc)

buying a damn tivo is often not an option!

[Anonymous Coward]

I've seen a few of these articles on Slashdot where someone asks advice on rolling their own Tivo like device. Invariably there's a lot of replies that say "just buy a damn Tivo", "here's what I did: bought a Tivo", and "check out this site for info: tivo.com".

TIVO DOES NOT SELL THEIR PRODUCT OUTSIDE OF THE US AND UK! Buying a Tivo is not a solution to many people reading this site. The only solution to experience the joy of using a PVR that so many of you are raving about, is to create their own.

Let's recap. If you live in Canada, you cannot buy a Tivo. If you live in Germany, you cannot buy a Tivo. Even in Soviet Russia, you cannot buy a Tivo. And so on...Get the point?

Besides, isn't this site supposed to be aimed at geeks? I would think that creating a PVR from spare computer parts is a worthwhile geek activity.

Re:Buy a Tivo - NOT!!!

[earthforce_1]

I live in Canada - TiVo is not supported here, for love or money. Besides, I would prefer a totally DRM free and open, networkable appliance. I am really looking forward to seeing HDTV and time-shifting support.

I wish these open source projects would pool their efforts - I hate to see duplication of effort between Myth TV and Freevo.

Why I Won't Buy A Tivo

[kevina]

In responce to the many "Just buy a Tivo" posts. Here is why I won't but a Tivo:

It is a closed system in which Tivo Inc dictates what I can do with it not me. For example I can't transfer shows over the network onto my computer, something which they were probably never allow due to MPAA and the like pressure. You can hack it do what you want to a certain extent, however the legality is questionable. Furthermore, it seams that Tivo Inc can even instruct it to record a show, without the users consent, as it did for BBC in Britan.

I want an open system in which I can control and add software to, legally.

Re:Next up: "How can I build my own car?"

[SuperBanana]

Next up: "How can I build my own car?"

While off-topic, I feel the need to point out something about this comment- it's aburdly ignorant. Believe it or not, a LOT of people feel that no car company makes what THEY want, or they want the experience of going through the design process at any of a number of levels, from "simple" modifications to an existing shell, to really wild stuff or completely custom, hand-formed cars. You see this in particular with motorcycles, because they're easier to make from scratch, and of course, motorcycle enthusiasts are famous for wanting something -unique-; plenty of motorcycle guys would cut their throats before stepping into a Honda Civic(or a Honda bike, for that matter.)

There are lots of kit cars available, including my personal favorite, the Caterham R500. It's based off the famous Lotus Super Seven, weighs half a ton, and has 250 HP(hence a 500hp/ton ratio, and hence the name). It -is- a race car(again, it's basically a Lotus Super Seven), you can get it for $40k, and embarass silly almost every production roadcar made on the planet; it hits 60mph in a little over 3 seconds(it is limited top-speed-wise though, it has the high-speed aerodynamics of a brick), and being so light, it'll easily out-corner -every- production car available today; motorcycles are probably the only thing capable of beating it. The fact that you BUILT your car, versus the "poser" in the 911 twin turbo who "just" bought his car, is icing on the I-just-spanked-your-3x-as-expensive-little-toy cake.

In the slightly-less-extreme category, there are those of us who buy old cars and keep them running. I own a 10+ year old Audi that with a few hundred dollars in modifications has 280hp, all wheel drive, 5-speed(these are getting rarer and rarer-dammit, I don't WANT an automatic!) an ENORMOUS amount of interior space and trunk space, gets about 22-24mpg highway, weighs 3600lb(that's VERY light compared to cars its size today- full-size luxury cars nowadays tip the scale at well over 4,000lb- often much more!) It looks like "some old Audi"(nobody will ever steal it.) I get to blow the doors off most everything save the cream of the crop of sports cars. If I ever get bored and have the money, 330hp is about $2-3k around the corner. Almost everything on the car is easy to understand, and occasionally specialized tools are required, but I can repair almost anything myself with enough determination; I also have plenty of parts sources so I can get almost anything quickly and far below what a mechanic/dealer would charge me.