Backing up recordings from Virgin TiVo - The Bear and Badger

davyK

I have 3 recordings on our old TiVo that we want backed up. The box is starting to stutter and fail , so we really need them off. (local news item about Wifey's brother who died a few years ago , and 2 episodes of Songs of Praise - daughter#1's chamber choir got to final of best UK school choir - ended up as runners up).

You can download desktop software that lets you connect to the box over the wifi and transfer recordings to the PC (provided no IP protection is on them - films for example). You need the media key which is stored on the box and is available on the settings screens.

However the way Virgin has licenced TiVo this functionality doesn't work.

So I have had to resort to using a SCART lead out the back of the box and into a VHS->DVD gadget and software to capture the recordings. I don't have an HDMI capture unit - guessing that work just as well (probably better , provided the licence block Virgin have doesn't prevent it from working that way)

I'm getting a nice enough image for viewing on a laptop screen just with composite and the cheap box I'm using - the content I'm copying doesn't need HD). Certainly better than the VHS transfers I'm doing. It can use s-video as well which is a good jump up from composite - very close to RGB SCART, so I've a cable for ordered for that.

Just something worth knowing in case you have recordings on a Virgin TiVo you want to archive.

Ed_Flanders

Wouldn't it be easier to just take out the drive? Or is encrypted?

davyK

I've no idea - it's still Virgin kit - I pay monthly for it so wouldn't want to mess around. I am guessing it is encrypted though. There's a media key that is used by software to access it over a network. Good chance that unlocks the content.

Got the 3 programs copied with a decent image. I have that in the bank. Would be nice to be able to look under the bonnet.

We have a newer TiVo. When we got the upgrade we swapped the 2nd TV's HD box out for the old TiVo. I'll probably just ask them to replace this old dodgy one with a HD box as it isn't used for recording all that much.

Hodge360

Given you should know exact date and airing times, you might be better off contacting the station? I've heard of RTE doing up DVDs from the archives for similar requests. Surely BBC would do similar?

davyK

We tried that - for the local TV news item anyhow.

I've got the recordings copied and they look grand on the laptop and that's all we need to be honest.

Reminds me I have a pile of VHS tapes still to transfer before the VCR packs in.

poprock

This is probably more for the QI thread, but did you know there’s a national archive, online and streamable, of everything broadcast in the UK?

It’s not for the likes of us, sadly. It’s actually for the British Library, part of the BBC’s remit as the publicly-funded national broadcaster. They have to store a copy of everything broadcast by every channel - TV and radio, whatever the brand, owner, format, or delivery method. Because it’s the BBC, and they’re cool, they store this archive online. It’s cloud-based. If you have access, you just log in to it like the iPlayer or Netflix and away you go. Everything ever broadcast in the UK (not just since they started storing it online - the entire archive is digitised now and included). The older you go, the more gaps there are, though. Some things are just lost to posterity.

I ‘borrowed’ a login for it years back, but damned if I can find it now. Should have kept hold of that one.

davyK

wow

Diluted Dante

Who is it for then?

cockbeard

Research, journalism, pretty sure you can access it if you visit the library as well. Just it's not for general entertainment, would cost a bomb to host all that and have the world streaming it at the same time

poprock

Yep. Also, imagine the copyright/money hassles of making that public.

Diluted Dante

You can access it if you go there yes. What I'm asking is who are the people who can get access to it remotely?

poprock

Mostly BBC digital staff and British Library staff who need to use it for their jobs. The guy who showed me it years back was one of the devs working on the system.

It better than having it all stored on DigiBeta tapes in a library lockup.

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