Tivo Desktop Work in RC2?

J

jsolderitsch

Member
Has anyone used Tivo Desktop (PC version with Tivo to go feature) inside Parallels VM?

There are some expressed prerequisites at the Tivo site that I think the VM ought to be compatible with.

But I tried to use it today and after downloading, installing, getting an MPEG-2 decoder since there isn't any installed by default (got an NVIDIA one as recommended by Tivo web site) and then getting the Windows 11 Media Player beta installed, I did not see any video displayed after I transferred a recording and tried to play it inside the media player. The audio was playing ok but there was no picture.

I then tried to install Media Player 10 on top of 11 but the installer refused since a newer version was installed. Unfortunately there is no un-install option for the beta.

I do have a recent backup of the hard disk image, so I can un-do all of this experimental work.

Before I try again opting for the version 10 Media Player, if anyone has gotten the Tivo Desktop to run insider Parallels, I would appreciate hearing.

Jim
 
I have it working inside Windows 2000, but my goal is to run XP in Parallels. I will be trying to install that sometime over the weekend and will report back to you. I saved everything I downloaded to get it working with Win2k, and will just install the same stuff in XP.
 
daniel said:
OK, so I just installed TiVo Desktop in XP in Parallels. Works fine for me.
Click to expand...

What codec did you use -- I do not have one installed in my XP instance? Where did you get it?

What media player did you use to play videos? Windows Media Player 10?

Jim
 
Jim, I mistook your issue. I can't yet play videos I downloaded from my TiVo, but TiVo Desktop itself is functioning fine.

When I set this up for my Win2k Parallels session, I saved several useful links, and all of the software I used. The links and software may come in handy for getting XP working too. I'll work on it this weekend and let you know how I get it to work.

Now for the URLs:
- http://www.salingfamily.net/trav/osx/tivo1.html
- http://www.anders.com/cms/143/TiVo/Podcast/iPod/convert/video
- http://www.hitormiss.org/2005/03/07/tivo-to-dvd-via-mac-osx/
- http://www.engadget.com/2005/10/18/how-to-get-tv-shows-off-of-your-tivo-and-onto-your-ipod-with/
- http://www.fajkowski.com/tivo/

Not all of the links were useful, but when combined the info was all there for Win2k. I'll keep you posted.
 
OK, I have installed the following combination of files and it now plays (audio and video) on my XP session:
- ac3filter_0_70b.exe
- .Net 1.1
- osmpegsplitter.1.0.0.1_nt.exe (open source MPEG decoder)
- osmpegviddec.1.0.0.1_nt.exe (open source MPEG decoder)
- TiVo Desktop 2.2.exe
- Windows Media Player 10

I'm not sure the ac3filter is needed - I think the real magic is in the open source decoders. And I think that .Net is only needed for DirectShow Dump, if you have need for that.
 
Success with TiVo Desktop! -- Thanks

daniel said:
OK, I have installed the following combination of files and it now plays (audio and video) on my XP session:
- ac3filter_0_70b.exe
- .Net 1.1
- osmpegsplitter.1.0.0.1_nt.exe (open source MPEG decoder)
- osmpegviddec.1.0.0.1_nt.exe (open source MPEG decoder)
- TiVo Desktop 2.2.exe
- Windows Media Player 10

I'm not sure the ac3filter is needed - I think the real magic is in the open source decoders. And I think that .Net is only needed for DirectShow Dump, if you have need for that.
Click to expand...

Thanks for keeping the discussion going.

I wound up trying to make DirectShow Dump approach work first and your earlier link:

http://www.salingfamily.net/trav/osx/tivo1.html

was right on the money as to how to make this happen.

I wound up using WMP 10, TiVo Desktop, dotNet framework and DSD and was able to convert the .tivo file to a .mpg file that VLC can play on the Mac -- pretty neat.

Then I found a free codec for MPEG-2: DScaler5008.exe that when installed allowed the .tivo file to play pretty well inside of the guest Win XP running via Parellels. The audio and video seemed to be in sync and the video quality was acceptable as well when running in Parallels.

I now suspect that using the new WMP 11 beta would work as well -- I just needed the proper codec.

Since you can access the TiVo list of files using an ordinary Web browser if you know your TiVo's LAN IP, I can grab the recordings without even resorting to TiVo desktop -- and do this on the Mac Host OS. But without a DirectShow Dump equivalent on the Mac, I still need to make the file available to the Guest PC to convert to an MPEG-2.

But I hear that TiVo is close to releasing a new TiVo Desktop for the Mac that will includ Video to Go support.

Anyway, your pointers are much appreciated.

Jim
 
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When playing back video with WMP 10, does in spike both cores? It does this with WMP under OS X and with WMP 10 under Paralles/XP Home.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions to help speed up transferring files off of the Tivo? A direct connection between the Tivo-router-laptop rather than through wireless?
 
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