Transfer shows and movies from DirecTV HD reciever to a PC

Arlington · 06-10-2009, 01:48 PM

How do you transfer some of the shows and movies from a HR-21 receiver to a PC? I need to make room. I don't even care if I can view it on my PC but it would be nice. I'd just like to keep a few shows for backup on the PC then transfer back if I want to watch them.

bicker · 06-11-2009, 03:30 AM

I'm not familiar enough with the HR-21's output capabilities to comment, but I can tell you a few things.

First, cable companies are required to provide a IEEE 1394 (Firewire) output on all the STBs they provide, to allow subscribers to off-load content (presumably to computers). It is a bit tricky to get it to work, because IEEE 1394 is a tricky thing to get working.

However, if you know a good bit about computers, you can probably figure it out if you spend enough time researching it.

However, though these boxes must support IEEE 1394 output, none of these boxes support putting content back in. It is a one-way door.

I'm not sure if the HR-21 has the same type of output, but I'm relatively sure that even if it does, it does not have a means of restoring recordings off-loaded in this manner back onto the DVR. Again, it's one-way.... out.

DVR hard drive space is a major point of value. The general viewer doesn't save up as much content as you do, so the general offerings don't include ways to store more than the certain amount. You could, I suppose, get a second DVR. Also there are options for upgrading the storage for your HR-21 though:

HR20, HR21, and HR22 DirecTV HD DVR Upgrades

Arlington · 06-11-2009, 11:30 AM

Pretty cheap for 750GB. Doesn't it void the warranty? Found this in their FAQ

Quote:

Are WeaKnees upgrades "verified" by TiVo?
No, our external drive kits are not verified. We use what we've found to be the best drives available for our kits - both Seagate DB35 drives and Hitachi drives in the Terabyte units. We're convinced that these are the best drives for use with DVRs.

bicker · 06-11-2009, 12:06 PM

It absolutely voids the TiVo warranty.

SuzanaD · 06-21-2009, 06:44 PM

I didn't even know you could do that with Direct TV. That is fabulous, I am going to check that out soon. I am glad you posted that here.

Arlington · 09-02-2009, 07:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bicker

I'm not familiar enough with the HR-21's output capabilities to comment, but I can tell you a few things.

First, cable companies are required to provide a IEEE 1394 (Firewire) output on all the STBs they provide, to allow subscribers to off-load content (presumably to computers). It is a bit tricky to get it to work, because IEEE 1394 is a tricky thing to get working.

However, if you know a good bit about computers, you can probably figure it out if you spend enough time researching it.

However, though these boxes must support IEEE 1394 output, none of these boxes support putting content back in. It is a one-way door.

I'm not sure if the HR-21 has the same type of output, but I'm relatively sure that even if it does, it does not have a means of restoring recordings off-loaded in this manner back onto the DVR. Again, it's one-way.... out.

DVR hard drive space is a major point of value. The general viewer doesn't save up as much content as you do, so the general offerings don't include ways to store more than the certain amount. You could, I suppose, get a second DVR. Also there are options for upgrading the storage for your HR-21 though:

HR20, HR21, and HR22 DirecTV HD DVR Upgrades

I still haven't ordered yet.

I noticed this note on their external drives:

Quote:

Plug and Play Replacement Capacity Upgrades. Drive is external, but the internal drive is no longer used once this external is connected.

So if I connect the external drive, will I ever be able to use the internal drive again? I'd like to be able to disconnect the external and possibly use the internal if needed. Sorry for asking so many questions. Just want to make sure I know what I'm getting.

bicker · 09-03-2009, 01:37 AM

Sorry but I don't know that specific information about those DVRs.

HTNut · 09-07-2009, 08:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arlington

I still haven't ordered yet.

I noticed this note on their external drives:

So if I connect the external drive, will I ever be able to use the internal drive again? I'd like to be able to disconnect the external and possibly use the internal if needed. Sorry for asking so many questions. Just want to make sure I know what I'm getting.

I would call them up just to make sure, but I think that if you connect the external hard drive that it'll override your receiver's hard drive, but once you unplug the external drive, your receiver's drive should start working again. Again, I would make sure with weakknees.com.


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