Download TivoPlayList
Setup_TiVoPlayList_v0.70.exe
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Main PlayList Window
TiVo Unit
- Enter the name by which you wish reference this particular TiVo unit.
IP Address
- Enter the IP address for this particular TiVo unit. This can be found from TiVo
Central by going to 'Messages & Setup' then 'Settings' and then 'Phone & Network'. The
TiVo IP Address should be listed there if configured properly.
- If using DHCP the IP address of the TiVo could change from time to time.
- A hostname can also be entered instead of an IP address if you have a valid hostname
registered with a DNS service which points to your TiVo (not your PC).
Total Disk Space
- Enter the size available for storing recordings on your TiVo harddrive in gigabytes
(GB). This will be smaller than the physical size of your drive due to operating
system software and partitions.
-It is recommended that you enter a low value (even 0 is OK) and then let your TiVo fill
up with recordings. TiVoPlayList will automatically increase this setting and remember
the max size it finds. Over time it will zero in on available space for recordings.
- Be careful not to enter a value that is larger than the TiVo actually has or you will
never really know how close to full your TiVo and you might have a show deleted to make
room for a new show before you expected.
After changing any of these 3 settings the [SAVE] button must be clicked for the
settings to be stored and take effect.
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Advanced Settings Window
Media Access Key (MAK)
- Enter the 10-digit MAK for the TiVo you wish to access. This can be found from
TiVo Central by going to 'Messages & Setup' then 'Account & System Information' and
then 'Media Access Key'. The TiVo MAK should be listed there if the Home Media Option
is enabled properly. You can also check the settings online at 'www.tivo.com' under
'Manage My Account'.
PlayList Port (Https)
- The default Https port for a LAN (local network) is port 443. This should be left
alone for a normal home network. But if accessing a TiVo across the internet or a
larger network then port fowarding is often required and the fowarded port should be
entered here.
Download Port (Http)
- The default Http port for a LAN (local network) is port 80. This should be left
alone for a normal home network. But if accessing a TiVo across the internet or a
larger network then port fowarding is often required and the fowarded port should be
entered here.
Auto-Refresh Interval
- This configures the time in minutes between TiVoPlayList refreshing the PlayList for
this particular unit. It is recommended that this be set to something like 25 minutes
or higher. If set to 0 then that playlist will not auto-refresh and also will not
auto-download.
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Options Settings Window
PlayList Anchor Size
- The number of recordings to grab information about from the TiVo at one time.
(i.e. 0 of 84... 16 of 84... 32 of 84... would be an anchor size of 16)
Download Chunk Size
- The maximum memory size for data retrieved from a TiVo during file download
operations. The TiVo may send much smaller packets of data, but this defines the max
size to buffer for retrieval.
The 'Keep Download Log' checkbox enables or disables the saving of information to a
log file after each download completes.
The 'Minimize to System Tray' checkbox allows TiVoPlayList to be minimized to the
System Tray instead of the Taskbar.
The 'Start Minimized' checkbox is only available if 'Minimize to System Tray' is
checked and will cause TiVoPlayList to go to the System Tray on startup after the
splash screen displays if the user does not click the 'OK' button.
The 'Shutdown Computer if -Shutdown Afer Downloads Complete- Selected' checkbox
determines if just the TiVoPlayList program will close or if the entire computer will
shutdown after all downloads complete. If selected a warning will appear that data
could be lost.
The 'Display Quality in Mbps' checkbox is used to switch the quality value reported
for recordings between Hr/GB and Mbps (Million bits per second).
The 'Always Estimate Quality' checkbox determines whether quality will be reported as
'???' or will be estimated if the actual quality of a recording is not reported.
The Best/High/Medium/Basic Quality values are used to estimate the quality of a
recording if the actual quality is not reported by a TiVo.
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Auto Download Settings Window
The following substitution tags may be used to help build the default save filename.
Any other text may be used as a placeholder that will not change but will be present
in the filename.
{DVR} = text name of selected dvr unit as defined in TiVoPlayList
{MAK} = 10-digit MAK of dvr recording was captured on
{Title} = recording title + episode name (if exists)
{ShortTitle} = recording title only (no episode)
{Episode} = episode name of recording
{EpisodeNum} = episode number of recording
{RecDate} = date recording was captured (yyyy-mm-dd format)
{AirDate} = original air/release date of recording (either yyyy-mm-dd or yyyy)
{Desc} = full text description of recording (truncated to 80 characters)
{Station} = callsign of station recording captured from
{Channel} = channel numbers recording captured from
{ProgramID} = Program ID assigned to recording (not always unique)
The 'Save Series in Subfolders' checkbox will save files in a subfolder named with the
title of the series under the default save path.
The 'Auto Download Suggestions' checkbox will allow suggestions to be auto downloaded if
all other rules are met.
The 'Create MetaData File' checkbox will create an additional file with the exact name
of the save filename plus '.txt'. This file contains detailed program information
and is compatible with the pyTivo server (visit 'http://pytivo.armooo.net').
The 'Download as Raw Transport Stream Files' checkbox will cause the default download
file extension to be .ts instead of .tivo. These files may transfer faster to a PC but
also need to be handled differently by various software packages. This option may not
truly be implemented on TiVo units prior to the Series 3 models.
The following substition tags may be used to create the command to execute after
finishing every download. Any other text can be used but care should be taken to
surround any filenames or program names with double quotes (this is most definitely
necessary if any spaces exist in the path or filename). Also remember to put the
full path of any programs being called or the may not be detected properly. This
command could be a single program call or it could call a batch file containing
multiple program calls.
{AppPath} = full path of folder TiVoPlayList.exe is running from (includes trailing \)
{DVR} = text name of selected dvr unit as defined in TiVoPlayList
{MAK} = 10-digit MAK of dvr recording was captured on
{SaveFile} = replaced with full filename of the save file (includes path and extension)
{SavePath} = replaced with the full path of the save file (includes trailing \)
{SaveName} = replaced with name of save file without path or extension
{SaveExt} = replaced with the file extension of the save file (including the .)
.* = replaced with the file extension of the save file (including the .)
* = replaced with the full path and filename of the save file without any
extension
The auto-download rules should be fairly self explanatory.
- choose a specific TiVo unit to auto-download shows from or choose 'Any'
- choose a specific quality level to auto-download or choose 'Any'
- choose whether to look for shows to auto-download based on title only, title+episode,
or title+episode+description
- choose whether to search title/episode/description by exact match, starting phrase, or
containing phrase anywhere
- place the search phrase in the 'Search Text' column
- the text in the 'Search Text' column is never case-sensitive so case does not matter
- placing a single * (asterisk) in the 'Search Text' column will cause any/all shows
meeting the other criteria to auto-download
- the 'Start Date' field is used to define a cut-off date before which programs will
not auto-download. When you create a new rule it defaults to the current date so you
won't get a bunch of old shows queued up to transfer right away but will get new shows
as they are recorded. You can always change the date back to get some older shows.
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There are 2 example batch files available for demonstrating the 'command to execute
after download completes' function.
decode1.bat demonstrates using tivodecode to remove the TiVo watermark (encryption)
from a transferred .tivo file and save it as a .mpg.
@echo off
rem *** tivodecode method
rem *** place this file (decode1.bat) in the '\Program Files\TiVoPlayList' folder
rem *** place the following command in TiVoPlayList to execute after dl completes
rem ***
rem ***
rem "{AppPath}\decode1.bat" "{SaveFile}" "*.mpg" {MAK}
rem ***
rem ***
rem *** check path of command below
@echo on
"c:\tivo\tivodecode.exe" -m %3 -o %2 %1
del %1
ren "%~1.txt" "%~nx2.txt"
decode2.bat uses DirectShow Dump to make the same demonstration and remove the TiVo
watermark (encryption) from a transferred .tivo file and save it as a .mpg.
@echo off
rem *** directshow dump method
rem *** place this file (decode2.bat) in the '\Program Files\TiVoPlayList' folder
rem *** place the following command in TiVoPlayList to execute after dl completes
rem ***
rem ***
rem "{AppPath}\decode2.bat" "{SaveFile}" "*.mpg"
rem ***
rem ***
rem *** check path of command below
@echo on
"C:\Program Files\DirectShow Dump\DSDCmd.exe" -s:%1 -t:%2
del %1
ren "%~1.txt" "%~nx2.txt"
tivodecode was found to be the more reliable of these two during testing. Any other
commands could be added after the 'ren' line in these batch files to do things such as
running a quickstream fix on the .mpg file, or transcoding/converting the .mpg file to
another resolution, size or format (such as iPod or PSP), or removing commercials from
a recording using a tool such as comskip (visit 'http://www.kaashoek.com/comskip').
As always send any questions or comments to 'dcahoe@gmail.com'.
Be creative and Enjoy,
David M. Cahoe