# Rogers PVR Firewire Ports NOW Active



## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

To all the rogers PVR and mac users out here I found out today that Rogers updated the firmware on their SA 8300HD PVR and the firewire port is now active for all to use.

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=55633

I haven't tried this yet because I'm at work right now but will give it a go tonight when I go home. I only have a SA8300SD (NOT HD) and was wondering if anyone else had a change to try this out.

Jorge


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

What does this let you do? I'm thinking about trying to get a Rogers PVR (especially if FutureShop gets more in during their current sale).

I'm just wondering what the Firewire port will allow you to do? Transfer recorded programs out to another Hard Drive? Transfer them to my Mac Mini HTPC?


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

Yes it will let you watch and bring stuff over to the computer so you edit it and make your own copy. This was enabled ages on most US cable stations but our lovely rogers has finally done this.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

I can only assume this is a by-product on a general release firmware update. I don't know why Rogers would intentionally enable the Firewire port. I'm pretty sure the CRTC doesn't have a similar law to the FCC, with respect to this being a mandatory requirement.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

I don't think you will be able to see the HD in the PVR as an HD on your Mac. What it will do is stream out a real-time stream of DV data based on what is currently playing (be it tv or recorded content). You will use an application on your Mac to record that stream onto your hard drive (again, it's real-time so a two hour movie will take to two hours to record to your drive). If you recorded to the PVR that's two hours to record to the pvr drive and then two hours to play it out to your Mac. Once it's on your Mac it will be taking up a huge amount of space and you will want to re-encode it in a more compressed format and get it off your drive.

You don't control the PVR from the Mac or anything. You have to use the PVR remote to get the data flowing and just catch what's coming out the port.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

People in the US who've been doing this for a while are seeing HD... that is, unless the Rogers STB is different.


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## fyrefly (Apr 16, 2005)

anyone know what file format the PVR'd recordings are in? I'm debating between getting an Elgato Hybrid TV Device and this PVR ($299 from Futureshop if it ever comes back in stock). Any comments either way?


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## Bajan (Apr 11, 2004)

I recorded a few shows last week and wow do they take up a lot of space so unless you have a Xserve RAID in your living room, re-encoding using Quicktime Pro's H.264 codec works quite nicely.

Not sure if I'd use this feature much but it's nice to know that it's there.


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## Bajan (Apr 11, 2004)

fyrefly said:


> anyone know what file format the PVR'd recordings are in?


Recordings are in an .m2t format.

Here's a good link that will help you out.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

mikef said:


> People in the US who've been doing this for a while are seeing HD... that is, unless the Rogers STB is different.



It's possible that they have changed the setup since I last looked. Once I determined that the port was not active, I gave up on the prospect. Now that they are functional, I may go back to HD.


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Damn, I just checked my Rogers PVR and it's an 8000HD so I guess I'm out of luck. I wonder if Rogers will give me an 8300HD?


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

wondering if anyone has actually tried this out? I followed the tutorial that Bajan linked to, and have no problems capturing the mt2 file - my problem arises when I can't seem to play the captured file.... I've followed the tutorial, but it doesn't seem to be working!


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

Are you sure you're recording an unencrypted stream? Did you try another channel? What program are you using for playback?


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

I actually just played an episode from my PVR - arrested development on cbc hd. It's possible I'm not using an unencrypted stream. How do i know what is encrypted and what isn't?

Thanks,

theTVaddict
http://www.thetvaddict.com


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## Bajan (Apr 11, 2004)

emalen said:


> wondering if anyone has actually tried this out? I followed the tutorial that Bajan linked to, and have no problems capturing the mt2 file - my problem arises when I can't seem to play the captured file.... I've followed the tutorial, but it doesn't seem to be working!


What program are you using for playback? VLC will work well.

When you are capturing the program the EMI field in AVCVideoCap should say "Copy Freely" or "Copy Once".

Take a look at post 27 over at Digital Home Canada


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

it says copy once, is that okay. Do I just open the file with VLC after? or is there another process I have to follow? VirtualDVHS doesn't seem to do anything, which may be the problem


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

Ok, I have been playing with this for about half an hour. I'm able to record the stream that is playing on my PVR (This Old House program, I know, really into renoing my house right now) and I can play this via VLC. Is there any way to change and record different channels that haven't been pre-recorded?


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Two questions on this. Does anyone know if Cogeco's HD boxes are now open? Second, I have a HD+PVR from Cogeco. Is there any way of moving stuff that I've already recorded on the PVR or do I have to be playing it back to capture it?


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

Oakbridge said:


> Two questions on this. Does anyone know if Cogeco's HD boxes are now open? Second, I have a HD+PVR from Cogeco. Is there any way of moving stuff that I've already recorded on the PVR or do I have to be playing it back to capture it?


I've been able to answer my first question myself. I have tried both the AVCVideoCap and the iRecord programs and had success with both of them. 

AVCVideoCap cannot tune the channel but gave me results every time I used it and yes the quality of HD looks fantastic on my 19" monitor attached to my AlumPB. 

iRecord could actually change the channel (was pretty amazing to watch) but only worked twice out of the 4 times I tried it. I'll have to keep playing with it. 

I just tried taking a small clip from something that was prerecorded on the PVR and it didn't work. Will try again tomorrow.


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## Toronto1970 (Apr 15, 2006)

Question:

Once I have the .m2t file, I know I can view it in VLC. 

What's the easiest way to burn it to a DVD that can be watchable in a normal DVD player. I tried the new version of Toast, but it doesn't seen to recognize the m2t file.


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

Been fooling around with this myself, tried dumping a few minutes of a pre-recorded show from Radio Canada from my Rogers PVR (SA 8300) to the Macbook, captured a .m2t file but I cannot play it. I think it must be encrypted....will keep at it!

I think you can use Quicktime's MPEG-2 playback component to play back .m2t files or MPEG Streamclip a try, it's free!


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## gmark2000 (Jun 4, 2003)

Oakbridge said:


> I've been able to answer my first question myself. I have tried both the AVCVideoCap and the iRecord programs and had success with both of them.


Which box are you using? The Motorola 6208 or 6212?










A guy using the 6200 with Shaw out in Alberta wrote this how-to a few years back: http://macteens.com/index.php/features/fullstory/how_to_make_your_own_home_theatre_mac_htmac/


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

i'm using a rogers 8300 hd box


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## milhaus (Jun 1, 2004)

Question: Am I supposed to just plug in the cable and see the device as a hard drive on my desktop??


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

milhaus said:


> Question: Am I supposed to just plug in the cable and see the device as a hard drive on my desktop??


It does not mount on your desktop but you'll see it in System Profiler in the Firewire section if your cable box has FW ports enabled. You can open up the System Profiler by clicking the Apple Menu, then on About This Mac and choosing More Info. It's also located in your Applcations/Utilities folder.

Found some good set up instructions from http://www.pressleypress.com/blog/?p=35


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## Oakbridge (Mar 8, 2005)

gmark2000 said:


> Which box are you using? The Motorola 6208 or 6212?
> 
> 
> 
> ...


DCT 6416 III


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

Any word on getting files from M2T to DVD? What steps are involved?

Jorge


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

ffmplayerX will convert m2t to vob and then you can use a DVD authoring app (like Toast)


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## Elemenopee (Apr 20, 2004)

Boomcha said:


> Any word on getting files from M2T to DVD? What steps are involved?
> 
> Jorge


There are several options.

For one, you would probably want to edit out commercials first ... for that you can use MPEG Streamclip.

Then use ffmpegX for conversion to dvd. Or, just use MPEG Streamclip to export to a MPEG that is compatible to burn with Toast.

For more info, you can research at:

http://forum.videohelp.com/viewforum.php?f=9


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

I've been trying to get MPEG Streamclip to play my files but it plays the audio but not the video while in VLC I can get everything working great. Using FFMPegX I can get it play but not 100% sure of the settings to get the best quality. Do you guys just use the regular defaulg MPEG-TS to DVD ffmpeg or is there something better?

Jorge


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

Ok I was able to convert it to DVD via FFMPegX (It makes the VIDEO_TS folder) but it also makes a mpg file that I can edit in QT Pro and edit out the commercials. Maybe I'm losing a generation but I could get Streamclip to play properly.

Jorge


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## Elemenopee (Apr 20, 2004)

Boomcha said:


> Ok I was able to convert it to DVD via FFMPegX (It makes the VIDEO_TS folder) but it also makes a mpg file that I can edit in QT Pro and edit out the commercials. Maybe I'm losing a generation but I could get Streamclip to play properly.


Not really sure why MPEG Streamclip doesn't play the video. It should, unless there's something up with the m2t file.

Try running the m2t clip through nullpacketstripper and see if that fixes the m2t file.

http://www.hometheatersoftware.com/

That way, you can edit out the commercials before encoding with ffmpegX


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## Kosh (May 27, 2002)

Interesting, I noticed that my 8000HD PVR had been reset the last couple nights and I think I've found out why. It looks like there was a firmware update to it as well as I've now got a 4th fast forward or rewind arrow. I only had 3 fast forward arrows before.

I should check out the firewire ports for the heck of it.


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

I'm so tempted to get a Rogers HD package... this stuff is neat and being able to archive video to my media server for personal use would be handy.


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## emalen (Oct 10, 2004)

i can't seem to get this to work. my powerbook g4 captures what seems to be video, it's a large file, but I can't play it at all. Does it matter that I have a g4. should i try using my newer intel macbook?

thanks for the help in advance


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## Macaholic (Jan 7, 2003)

Do you need the PVR box? Or, can you hook just a digital convertor to your computer via Firewire and do the original capture right into the Mac?


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

I've done this with a G4 ibook 1Ghz so I know it can be done but in order for me to play it I have been using VLC. I can even start playing the file right after I begin recording it to make sure that its coming in ok and it keeps playing until its done. If you can't play its probably because its encrypted. Did you notice in the capturing software if it says Copy Freely or Copy Once?

Macaholic, not 100% sure about that but I think you can't do that. That seems to be the limitation of TV inputs into the computer that it doesn't work for digital cable but only works with live to air broadcasts (antenna) so it pretty much defeats the purpose.

Jorge


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## Boomcha (Jan 29, 2004)

I've clarified with this link.

http://faq.elgato.com/index.php/faq/more/482/


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## Gabbadude (Nov 17, 2005)

I have to ask a dumb question... Is this method is supposed to work with a non HD PVR (from Rogers)?

I can capture the .m2t file but I'm unable to read it.

Anyone can help?

Thanks


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## Ants (May 6, 2003)

Gabbadude said:


> I have to ask a dumb question... Is this method is supposed to work with a non HD PVR (from Rogers)?
> 
> I can capture the .m2t file but I'm unable to read it.
> 
> ...


yes, your STB works the same way via FW but you most likely (as I did) captured an encrypted signal, hence you cannot view it. I tried transferring pre-recorded shows to my laptop, same situation. So far I have not been able to transfer anyting from the PVR to the computer and get it it playing, So PVR or non PVR does not matter. It really depends on the channel.

I think someone else on this thread makes mention of "copy once" & "copy freely" is supposed to appear somewhere.

May want to have a look at this Firewire thread on DHC
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?p=428607


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

I know that using the firewire would eliminate an intermediate device but given all of the issues there are easier solutions.

Get an HD compatible input box and pump your video from your pvr through it. You won't be adding any extra time since the direct via firewire option is real-time stream not file copy. 

Record content to the pvr. 
plug pvr into input box (ie. elGato, plextor, ATI)
start the pplayback/record
go to bed.

The only way the problems with the HD PVR are going to get better is when the manufacturer builds in support for file copy from the internal drive to an external device (your computer)


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## Strattco (May 7, 2009)

*Rogers PVR to MAC*

Hi All,

Ok I'm a new MAC user and trying to transfer content that I taped on my Rogers PVR (Roger HDPVR make scientific atlantic). I see the posts about using a fire wire but I don't think my macbook has fire wire capabilities (does it?). The mac people said it didn't and I don't see a port. Do you think I could use USB instead? 

Also, if I can use USB then what do I do? Turn the show on that I want to record, turn on imovies and then what? Sorry if the questions seem simple!!

Before I became a mac owner I had a program with my PC that would allow me to do it I'm just confused as to how to do it now.

Any input you have would be greatly appreciated.


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

Without firewire, you will need a USB based video capture device. You will manually start the program on the pvr and capture it using the usb capture device. It's certainly doable. 

Keep in mind though that capture of this nature is slow going. You will be capturing in real time (1 minute is 1 minute) and then encoding for some time after that. When reviewing usb capture devices you should consider a device that includes a hardware assisted encoder to speed up the process.

Good luck.


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## staples57 (Nov 19, 2007)

*This is not new!*

Ooops!


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## maximusbibicus (Feb 25, 2002)

staples57 said:


> This is NOT new!
> 
> This is may be new for the SA 8300HD, however, the firewire port on my Rogers HD PVR (SA 8300HD) has been active for more than two years!
> 
> ...


Did you happen to notice how old this thread is?


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## staples57 (Nov 19, 2007)

LOL... LMAO
You got me... I didn't check!




maximusbibicus said:


> Did you happen to notice how old this thread is?


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## Macified (Sep 18, 2003)

> Did you happen to notice how old this thread is?


Does it really matter. Folks are asking questions and they are being answered. Should we create a new thread just because a thread of interest is 'old'.


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## beaver2009 (Jun 5, 2009)

*Recent Changes*

Until recently I had been able to transfer recorded shows to my mac no problem. I had done CTV news a few times.

I just tried and it will record the file, and it has a size but streamclip and vlc wont play it.

Has something recently changed?


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