"Cannot render the file."

Most Probably the video stream is encrypted. I get the same thing when I cap encrypted QAM channels.

Most Probably the video stream is encrypted. I get the same thing when I cap encrypted QAM channels.
That's my guess. VideoReDo couldn't do anything with it, as I guessed. Is it possible the Comcast would've changed something in the way they broadcast (like I said, I'd been able to dump just about any recording prior to getting the replacement DVR), or does Comcast even control that (i.e., is it the originator of the source, and Comcast just passes it on as-is)?

Guess I'm SOL; still curious, though.

Question on playback.

If I have a couple TB of recordings, is there a program which will allow playback of these over firewire using the TV's transport controls?

I have a Tvix and usually use this for playback, but I'm just getting into the firewire areana and have capping/extraction working, but wondered about the playback side.
(I know of FireBus, but dont want to try is as the last time it screwed up my old laptop and never worked)

You cant send video back through firewire to the box.

I thought the local hd stations, like fox were not supposed to have 5c encryption active and be copy freely, yet i just tried to cap fox hd and I was unable to. Didnt the fcc say the locals had to be unencrypted.

Encryption and 5c protection are different. Any wording that might require locals to be copy-freely is ambiguous at best. A number of providers are currently flagging to allow unrestricted copying only on 5c-compliant devices while blocking copies to non-compliant devices such as PCs.

Encryption and 5c protection are different.
Well, that's not exactly true. 5C DTCP uses encryption to enforce the copy protection, which specifies copy freely, copy once, no more copies, or copy never.

Any wording that might require locals to be copy-freely is ambiguous at best. A number of providers are currently flagging to allow unrestricted copying only on 5c-compliant devices while blocking copies to non-compliant devices such as PCs.
That's true --- 5C DTCP can use an authentication mode that requires a 5C DTCP-compliant device for the handshake even if encryption isn't used, but when encryption is used it is 5C DTCP that does it.

Thanks for the clarification, ExDeus. I was oversimplifying things to refer to "encryption" as the encryption used to keep clear QAM tuners from accessing the stream (e.g. PowerKey or DCII), not the encryption used to prevent non-DTCP compliant devices from accessing a stream. While the current FCC rules are normally interpreted as requiring the limited basic tier (or at the very least, local broadcast channels) to be in the clear for QAM tuners, that interpretation does not extend to Firewire transfers to non-DTCP compliant devices such as a PC or Mac.

Thanks for the clarification, ExDeus. I was oversimplifying things to refer to "encryption" as the encryption used to keep clear QAM tuners from accessing the stream (e.g. PowerKey or DCII), not the encryption used to prevent non-DTCP compliant devices from accessing a stream.
We're in agreement, then. It is the case that the cable system shouldn't encrypt local channels, including HD channels, so they are available via clear-QAM, but those channels can still have 5C DTCP authentication required on a box's Firewire output to prevent non-compliant devices from copying them from the box. It seems many SA boxes always use 5C DTCP authentication, if not encryption, and Motorola boxes can use the good ol' Broadcast Flag to enable 5C DTCP authentication or encryption.

I know there have been a lot of people asking about 64 bit versions of the drivers for Vista x64, but I was curious as to what the issue preventing it was. I had read some earlier posts, and thought that I read that driver signing was an issue; having said that, without a lot of difficulty, one can bypass those checks (EasyBCD has an option to easily override it, or a couple of easy commands to the bootloader application BCDEDIT as well), so it's not really that much of a hurdle if that were the case. If it were something more complicated, like having to reprogram the driver, or some other conflict, my bad, but I figured I'd throw it out there. I am dualbooting Vista 32 and 64 (64 much more stable on my PC, and will see all of my 4 GB RAM, so it's my main OS), but if at all possible, I'd like to eliminate having to reload OSes whenever I want to capture. Thanks again, ExDeus (and Tim Moore too) for getting us a great driver so we can get our recordings without a lot of fuss. :):)

I know there have been a lot of people asking about 64 bit versions of the drivers for Vista x64, but I was curious as to what the issue preventing it was.
It isn't simply driver signing. The Panasonic driver in the driver package doesn't work under 64-bit.

I've done some work trying to get the Microsoft drivers to replace the Panasonic drivers, which would then work under any OS, but I keep hitting snags.

No ETD on 64-bit drivers.

I've added the Motorola DCH-6200 to my driver package.

http://exdeus.home.comcast.net/stbfirewire/

Scientific Atlanta 8240HDC has some problems with this :(

Scientific Atlanta 8240HDC has some problems with this :(

Yeah. I've already run into this myself. If your are in a TW area running Mystro/Navigator, your only options are an SA4250 (HD non-dvr set-top) or an SA8300HD (HD dvr set-top). The HDC essentially has the firewire functionality disabled.

anyone manage to record with or view stream live with vista?

Thanks

I record with vista every day

anyone manage to record with or view stream live with vista?
As far as Firewire recording goes, vista itself is not a problem, though there are no 64 bit drivers for either xp or vista...

It isn't simply driver signing. The Panasonic driver in the driver package doesn't work under 64-bit.

I've done some work trying to get the Microsoft drivers to replace the Panasonic drivers, which would then work under any OS, but I keep hitting snags.

No ETD on 64-bit drivers.

My apologies, couldn't recall what you had said then. In any event, we're all greatly appreciative to you (and to Tim) for your work on the Motorola STB drivers, keep up the great work!

Im trying to use CapDVHS with XP SP2 and a motorola 6412III. When I install everything, the program does recognize the motorola however when I go to record, I get error 800705AA. So I found a firewire patch KB885222 and installed it as directed. After that, then CapDVHS will no longer even connect to my device. If I do a system restore and uninstall the patch, CapDVHS sees the motorola again but of course will not record. Any thoughts?
Thank you very much in advance.

Ever since Comcast did a firmware update a month & half ago I can no longer capture firewire from programs recorded on the DVR (Motorola DCT-3412). I can record live programs just fine, but if I try to record DVR programs, the picture on the TV freezes, and the files record with no sound (video but no audio).

I read a possible work-around that involves unplugging the firewire cable, but that didn't work (and in fact caused a windows blue-screen once..)

Is there any fix for this or are we SOL?

Is this guide -- http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/ -- really the only way to get video "off" of the Motorola DVR??? Through Firewire for chrissakes?

That's reason enough to just say no to this DVR, IMO.

TIA!

really the only way to get video "off" of the Motorola DVR??? Through Firewire for chrissakes?
You can check ExDeus' signature for updated .inf and instructions, but the web site you quoted seemed fine... Unfortunately, not everything is plug and play, and this thread wouldn't be 160 pages long if it was... ;)

Ever since Comcast did a firmware update a month & half ago I can no longer capture firewire from programs recorded on the DVR (Motorola DCT-3412). I can record live programs just fine, but if I try to record DVR programs, the picture on the TV freezes, and the files record with no sound (video but no audio).

I read a possible work-around that involves unplugging the firewire cable, but that didn't work (and in fact caused a windows blue-screen once..)

Is there any fix for this or are we SOL?

This is my problem exactly. I just tried hooking up my box to my PC recently and noticed this behavior. All is well on live TV, but recorded shows don't send the audio stream over firewire. Can this be fixed by "unmuting" the box? Or is it more fundamental? Please help, I have a recording of my daughter who was on TV and would really like to put it onto a DVD. Thanks!

If you are getting a video file, it should have sound in it. It is very unlikely that the cable box would demux the audio and video before it was sent to the computer. Take a look at the file with TSreader if you can and see if there is audio in the file. Other things to try play back with a different program and see if the sound shows up or run the file through mpeg2repair and see if that helps.
John

There is another entire thread on this - the Comcast problem is well known.

I tried running MPEG2Repair and it said "Failed to find audio PID". Could you provide a link or a very specific search string so I can find the right thread? I always have a dickens of a time finding a specific thread. Thanks again for everyone's help!

Hi,

I am really new to the tech world. I am using a Scientific atlanta DVR provided by cable vision; 8300....I have a IEEE 1394 port on my laptop, but dont really know, which cable would be required ? which port it will connect into in DVR ? and will radioshack has it...can you send some Basic info.....I will be thankful

Thanks

I would say that it's not even worth the effort of trying. Very few people are ever able to get any SA boxes working with firewire. If you still want to try, you'll probably need a 6 pin to 4 pin firewire cable, available at most computer/electronics stores or online. Don't waste your money on flashy Monster cables as an $80 cable will work no better than a $7 cable.

...
**Added 5/26/04 **
To watch live HD without capturing first.
Open VLC v7.2 *might work with other versions.
Choose "File" > "Open Capture Device"

To the right of "Video device name" click "Refresh List" Then choose "Panasonic MPEG2TS Tape Sub" from the drop down.
Click "OK"

Just a word of advice if I hit "Configure" or "Advanced Options" It blue screens my computer.
This seems to be much more resource intensive than watching a captured file. My AMD 2600 works at ~83% if I don't resize or any other effect. Any effect drives it to 100%.

You can also setup a shortcut to run VLC with the parms for picking up the stream automatically.

Target:

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC\vlc.exe" "dshow:// :dshow-vdev="Panasonic MPEG2TS Tape Subunit Device" :dshow-adev="" :dshow-size="" :no-dshow-config "

Start In:

"C:\Program Files\VideoLAN\VLC"
*Thanks to E Jackson* ...


I have the motorola dct-3416 on vista sp1 and used these latest exdeus/stbfirewire vista drivers, which installed without a problem.

I tried the instructions above similarly but in the version of VLC that is now available 0.9.4 /w both the
motorola av/c panel device & motorola av/c tuner device

Can anyone suggest "To watch live HD without capturing first. " for me? thanks.

try mplayer classic

Hi, I have been reading all this information, very interesting stuff... I have been using a Motorola 6200 series (under FiosTV) to record using firewire to my pc, all ok so far...:D

My question here is I was planning to replace my pc for a small print size pc, this pc does not have firewire (and no slots to add a card), just USB, now I found these small adapter from USB to Firewire.. is it possible to use it and record that way? the connection to the STB would be the firewire side and the USB to the PC.

e.g adapter I am looking at:
h**p://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280280418097
(Take the space out between the numbers after "item=")

Sorry if this is a off topic question...

Thanks.

Hi, I have been reading all this information, very interesting stuff... I have been using a Motorola 6200 series (under FiosTV) to record using firewire to my pc, all ok so far...:D

My question here is I was planning to replace my pc for a small print size pc, this pc does not have firewire (and no slots to add a card), just USB, now I found these small adapter from USB to Firewire.. is it possible to use it and record that way? the connection to the STB would be the firewire side and the USB to the PC.

e.g adapter I am looking at:
h**p://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=280280418097
(Take the space out between the numbers after "item=")

Sorry if this is a off topic question...

Thanks.


You are joking right?

Do you think if I put a Cable F Connector on a lamp cord and plugged it into the cable outlet, the lamp would light up?

How about if I plug my telephone into the 220V AC outlet, could I still make calls?

You are joking right?

Do you think if I put a Cable F Connector on a lamp cord and plugged it into the cable outlet, the lamp would light up?

How about if I plug my telephone into the 220V AC outlet, could I still make calls?

No need to be an ass, a simple 'no' would have been enough.

Hi, I tried installing the latest ExDeus drivers but the setup can't find the drivers for the AV/C Panel for the Samsung SMT-H3050 even though the instructions note it's supported. Do I just specify the generic Av/C Tuner instead? It already used that for the tuner component.

try mplayer classic

if you've succefully managed my goal on Vista/xp with mplayer classic, can you elaborate on how and which os & stb?

Thanks!

Do I just specify the generic Av/C Tuner instead?
Sure, since technically, installing any model ends up with the same driver and all. The only difference is that the newer .inf should auto-detect more models...

Yeah, the new .inf did not completely detect my Samsung SMT-H3050. It was able to install the tuner, but it couldn't find the drivers for the panel. I guess I can just specify another STB's panel driver?

Looks like the ExDeus drivers don't work for the Samsung at all. I exchanged my STB for a Scientific Atlanta 3250HD and the drivers work perfectly for that. Too bad Time Warner may be discontinuing the SA-3250HD and replacing them with the newer Samsungs.

Looks like the ExDeus drivers don't work for the Samsung at all.
I checked the INF file, he defines %Samsung%=Samsung and then proceeds by using SAM everywhere else, so I'm guessing that is the problem... ;)

I have Comcast and the DCT 3416. Recently Comcast updated the software in the DVR and now i can't record anything. It shows recording and the image on the TV freezes although it says it's recording. When i try to play the file it's all chopped up. The picture stutters and the sound goes in and out. I use to be able to reocrd a few channels along with programs i had on the DVR. Is anyone else having this problem with Comcast.

Can't get this to work at all. I just upgraded to a new MacBook Pro. I have a motorola 3416 box. It worked fine with no probs connected to my prior toshiba laptop using capdvhs and timo's drivers.
I've tried in both leopard using the latest Apple SDK firewire package...i open the firewire record and am unable to record anything. The box is recognized in the AVSCap but cant record.
Using bootcamp and a new install of WinXP SP3 (which i bought and installed just for this) I also get no luck. I've installed the motorola drivers, the box is recognized; but when i use CapDVHS i get a "error 800705AA cannot start capture" I'ver searhced and searched and can't find a solution. \This error leads back to old SP2's and if I try to use the "fix" others have suggested, windows wont let me install it b/c its older than the current.

Please please help. I don't want to keep my old laptop simply as a DVR when my new one should do it (I have no use for a desktop and 2 laptops).

Thanks

Ben

Does it still work on your old laptop?

i am trying to get this to work with an SA 4250HDC. is this one supported? vista cannot find drivers for it at all using exdeus's pack.

Have dtc6208 full of programs. Moved out in the country to area with no cable. Left box stored for years. Now wanting to look at what's on it especially since out here with no dish or cable. Fired up box but no menus, just black screen. Can only get one screen when machine is powered off by pressing Select. Exactly how does one play or transfer files from storage on this machine? Have computer available to use for this if needed. What is file system on hard drive. Taking the hard drive out is also an option as I own this machine. Bought it used, put it on the cable system, filled it up to take with and look at once moved.
Been reading this thread bit by bit bit it is very lonnnng. Need concise and succinct info on how to do this, please.

Have dtc6208 full of programs. Moved out in the country to area with no cable. Left box stored for years. Now wanting to look at what's on it especially since out here with no dish or cable. Fired up box but no menus, just black screen. Can only get one screen when machine is powered off by pressing Select. Exactly how does one play or transfer files from storage on this machine? Have computer available to use for this if needed. What is file system on hard drive. Taking the hard drive out is also an option as I own this machine. Bought it used, put it on the cable system, filled it up to take with and look at once moved.
Been reading this thread bit by bit bit it is very lonnnng. Need concise and succinct info on how to do this, please.

You can't watch the recorded programs on a DCT until is connected to cable and it downloads the programming. I ran into the same problem bringing home a unit from up north that i recorded on it the summer to watch this winter. I finally got into the dvr menu by connecting it to the cable here (same cable company) but it won't tune channels As far as i know there isn't any way to access the programming even by taking the drive out. I haven't found any way to read the hard drive.

"Can't" is a huge word.

I only want to get a menu that controls the recorded programs and be able to either play them or save them to a hard drive for replay - as was the plan when I got this box, then throw box away. It doesn't matter how such a menu is produced as long as it gets the job done. Nor does it matter if the drive is in the box.

I took the box with me when I went to a cable ready area. Plugged it into a friend's cable and did a reset. Now it has no software at all. Had him call their cable company as though it were theirs and they had bought it and wanted to attach it through their system, and their cable system just wiped out what little software remained. The cable company said they needed a serial number and wanted them to bring the box in. They said they could give them the number over the phone but the cable company said they wanted it brought in. More inconvenience for programming legitimately bought and paid for when the service was on. The idea of the device is to time shift programming, right? Who is to say how long that time is!? There was no agreement to that either implied or written. Had no more time to work with it while there.

The files are still on the disk - an older IDE drive. After some homework it looks like no file system is used but the data is still there. Data can be saved to disk without file systems at all. I accidentally did that with floppies, then recovered the data, realizing then what was going on. It's all 1's and 0's.

Question is - is there readily available, inexpensive, software that can communicate with the drive while in the 6208? The posted comments all only refer to a process that allows streaming what's being played on the box through firewire. The article clearly states that it does not address accessing the hard drive.
Also and/or, what software allows capture from stored recordings on this machine or from the drive directly???
:(

"Can't" is a huge word.

I only want to get a menu that controls the recorded programs and be able to either play them or save them to a hard drive for replay - as was the plan when I got this box, then throw box away. It doesn't matter how such a menu is produced as long as it gets the job done. Nor does it matter if the drive is in the box.

I took the box with me when I went to a cable ready area. Plugged it into a friend's cable and did a reset. Now it has no software at all. Had him call their cable company as though it were theirs and they had bought it and wanted to attach it through their system, and their cable system just wiped out what little software remained. The cable company said they needed a serial number and wanted them to bring the box in. They said they could give them the number over the phone but the cable company said they wanted it brought in. More inconvenience for programming legitimately bought and paid for when the service was on. The idea of the device is to time shift programming, right? Who is to say how long that time is!? There was no agreement to that either implied or written. Had no more time to work with it while there.

The files are still on the disk - an older IDE drive. After some homework it looks like no file system is used but the data is still there. Data can be saved to disk without file systems at all. I accidentally did that with floppies, then recovered the data, realizing then what was going on. It's all 1's and 0's.

Question is - is there readily available, inexpensive, software that can communicate with the drive while in the 6208? The posted comments all only refer to a process that allows streaming what's being played on the box through firewire. The article clearly states that it does not address accessing the hard drive.
Also and/or, what software allows capture from stored recordings on this machine or from the drive directly???
:(

If there was such a product/way, would there be a huge thread like this?
There is no software that allows capture from stored recordings on the hard disk. The only software/drivers are what is mentioned in this thread.

As for getting files directly off the disk, that is not possible since the disk is formatted/encrpyted and cannot be read by just plugging it into a PC and accessing the files. Furthermore in the US this is illegal and will result in your account being billed the full purchase price of the DVR. Users in canada have tried similar things, like trying to put a 320GB drive into the 6416/3416 DVR and reported it is still formatted to 160GB only.

Could it be done with a bottomless supply of money/time? Possibly. But for a consumer, sorry to say there is no way:(

The box has to be hooked up to a valid cable system and authorized to be able to do anything. Sorry to say but even if you got it authorized on a current cable subscription, it would probably wipe the HDD. Where did you get this box anyway? Because in the US they are the property of the cable company, they are not for sale. They probably want you to bring it in so they can confiscate it... Even if you legitimately own it, sorry to say but it's pretty much worthless for anything besides a doorstop at this point.

In theory yes you could write some kind of low-level HDD reader and get the data off there, but the files are also encrypted so you'd also have to hack the encryption, which is likely pretty strong - not military-grade mind you but certainly more than it's worth bothing with for a 80gb drive full of years-old TV programming... Try Netflix.

All these inane usage restrictions will only push more people into the pirate world: one click download of movies or TV shows with commercials removed.

People want to use the media they pay to see THE WAY THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT.

The PVR minded will think: "As for me I'll download my episodes and movies until I'm free to use the capture hardware I choose IN MY HOUSE for the media I pay to see on MY TERMS."

How about if I plug my telephone into the 220V AC outlet, could I still make calls?

ooh voice over powerline! Even more fun than ethernet

I have firewire recording working, for the most part. Using SageTV and ExDeus drivers for a DCH3200, running on XPSP3. I'm on Cox cable.

With some channels, I get a corrupt mpeg file - it's the right size, but not recognizable by any media player. (And it brings Sage to its knees, as it tries to transcode an unrecognizable format, but that's another story)

Details:
1. It's not SageTV, as VLC exhibits the same problem. If I tune to a problematic channel while in VLC, I get no video or audio. I can then tune to a working channel, it's fine. Back to the problem channel, and get nothing.
2. The box itself is tuning the channel without trouble, as I can see the output on an analog TV.
3. I looked at the diagnostics on the box, signal levels are rated as "good", and there appears to be no encryption or copy protection.
4. Example problems are Fox, both the analog (006) and HD (704) - but other analog stations fail as well, including 007 and even PBS (017). It's a bit random, as sometimes I can tune in these stations while trying to debug. Again that hints and encryption or copy protection, but alas the diags say otherwise.
5. My analog capture card records 006 and 017 without trouble.

So, I'm completely lost. I can only think that it's some sort of firewire problem - is there some negotiation that the firewire has to do, in order to determine the video format?

Is this guide --
really the only way to get video "off" of the Motorola DVR??? Through Firewire for chrissakes?

That's reason enough to just say no to this DVR, IMO.

TIA!

Of course not. But its the only extraction method you'll see much about in forums like this. To protect their interests cable companies have implemented a lot of security against people who would like to have more control over the content that is thought to be "bought". Almost all programming is copyrighted. That those copyright laws go into a gray area when your individual rights are concerned in relation to what you can legally do with it once it's inside your walls. Also note a special exception in "Classroom" series - see their "use" disclaimer.
Equally appalling is the price - $24.95???!!! per program.

Does anyone have any problems with streaming via firewire into VLC 0.9.6? I used to be able to stream live TV, but now it doesn't work at all. There are no errors, no audio, and no video. Thanks!

by the way, i'm using a dch3416, but didn't want to start a new thread.

Edit: I tried with 0.8.6i (which has streamed fine in the past) and I get the same results as with the newer version, so it might be the box because I read in a different thread about recent firewire issues.

by the way, i'm using a dch3416, but didn't want to start a new thread.


Do you have comcast? I have the DCT3416 with Comcast and since they updated the software about 6 weeks ago i can't do anything with the firewire. I sometimes get a picture but it stutters and no audio. I think we may be at the end of the road using the firewire on these. I haven't found any workaround for it.

Do you have comcast? I have the DCT3416 with Comcast and since they updated the software about 6 weeks ago i can't do anything with the firewire. I sometimes get a picture but it stutters and no audio. I think we may be at the end of the road using the firewire on these. I haven't found any workaround for it.

Yup, on Comcast. What s/w are you?

F/W: 18.43
S/W: 75.59-a25p2-2.S1.r-8

Is it possible to use the Motorola 6412 to view Live TV within MCE 2005?

Thanks! It works great. Can Windows Bedia Center interface with the DCH3200 tuner? It doesn't acknowledge it on my system running Vista Home Premium?

Do you have comcast? I have the DCT3416 with Comcast and since they updated the software about 6 weeks ago i can't do anything with the firewire. I sometimes get a picture but it stutters and no audio. I think we may be at the end of the road using the firewire on these. I haven't found any workaround for it.

Yep, this happened when Comcast pushes out the latest firmware/software updates. When I got upgraded to 16.53(on my DCT3416) it crippled the firewire. See the thread on this forum titled "Help. Comcast Broke my firwire output on mt 3416" or something like that.

Supposidly Comcast/Motorola have acknowledged the problem and a new firmware has surfaced that might fix it, but has not been widely deployed yet. There is a poster who works for Comcast with a working email address at Comcast, check the thread for the information.

All these inane usage restrictions will only push more people into the pirate world: one click download of movies or TV shows with commercials removed.

People want to use the media they pay to see THE WAY THEY WANT WHEN THEY WANT.

The PVR minded will think: "As for me I'll download my episodes and movies until I'm free to use the capture hardware I choose IN MY HOUSE for the media I pay to see on MY TERMS."

The "PVR minded people" go out a get TiVo ;)

I originally posted this in the thread about firewire-out being broken, but I think it'll get more views in here.

When capturing thru firewire with capdvhs (using settings in first post) I get horrible picture quality and a few seconds in the beginning with just audio and no video.

I've uploaded a sample to rapidshare (does anyone know of a better host?) so could someone see if the quality I am getting is normal? Unfortunately it can only be downloaded 10 times.

Thanks a lot!

http://rapidshare.com/files/172515219/081211162659.mp.0000.ts.html

I originally posted this in the thread about firewire-out being broken, but I think it'll get more views in here.

When capturing thru firewire with capdvhs (using settings in first post) I get horrible picture quality and a few seconds in the beginning with just audio and no video.

I've uploaded a sample to rapidshare (does anyone know of a better host?) so could someone see if the quality I am getting is normal? Unfortunately it can only be downloaded 10 times.

Thanks a lot!

http://rapidshare.com/files/172515219/081211162659.mp.0000.ts.html

Have you tried rebooting the box (pulling the power cable and plugging back in) right before trying to dump the content?

When capturing thru firewire with capdvhs (using settings in first post) I get horrible picture quality and a few seconds in the beginning with just audio and no video.
Try running the file through VideoReDo's quick stream fix and see if it helps...

Have you tried rebooting the box (pulling the power cable and plugging back in) right before trying to dump the content?

I haven't tried that, but I will try it next time.

Try running the file through VideoReDo's quick stream fix and see if it helps...

That actually did help, but the audio volume got turned down so low it was almost impossible to hear, but that may have been a setting in the program.

Also, it said avg bitrate was about 12mb/s but in capdvhs, when it was recording, it said around 25mb/s. Any reason for the difference?

EDIT: Here is a screencap of what video looks like (this was only streaming thru VLC):

http://i36.tinypic.com/ea30us.png

That actually did help, but the audio volume got turned down so low it was almost impossible to hear, but that may have been a setting in the program.
Most likely a setting of the player, as you get the original audio...

Also, it said avg bitrate was about 12mb/s but in capdvhs, when it was recording, it said around 25mb/s. Any reason for the difference?
Some cable boxes like my PACE 551HD and yours output such a constant bits rate, filling the rest with null packet. I couldn't use VLC to record the stream from my box due to that and plenty of errors, but once cleaned up it's all good. ;)

No problems at all with that capture. You need to set your decoder/player to deinterlace the video.

Hi, I have both a Motorola DCT 6412 III and a 3417 and I have a problem with NFL Network HD content.

I'm trying to capture the stream but it doesn't seem to work. I use CAPDVHS for all of my capturing and it works great on just about everything.

I checked the NFL Networks 5C protection and it is set to 'No' and the channel is active as 'Copy Free'.

So why can't I capture this to my PC? It's the only HD network that is unprotected that won't capture properly. Occasionally I will get it to capture for 2 seconds but then it goes dark again.

Possible good news for Comcast customers with Scientific-Atlanta 8300HD boxes...

bored, I decided to give this another shot. I did the thorough uninstall of all devices and files per exDeus's instructions, rebooted, reconnected the firewire cable to the 8300HD, got the new hardware prompts and installed all four devices. Since I use GrafCorder, I unregistered/reregistered everything related to it (in particular the HDTVdump DirectShgow filter), built a new graph using GraphEdit, and did a 5 minute test recording of a portion of "Alien" which I'd recorded from the Fox Movie Channel.

Disco! Played back in all its widescreen, Dolby Digital glory using Media Player Classic (with the CCCP codec pack). So it seems Comcast has resolved the IEEE-1394 problems, at least in VA. Now if they could just fix their head-end problems so we could get clean signals on all channels.... time to figure out the best deinterlacer to use in ffdshow :-)

I checked the NFL Networks 5C protection and it is set to 'No' and the channel is active as 'Copy Free'.
Unfortunately, there are still one or 2 others flags they can use to prevent the recording of specific programs, they have been mentioned in this thread before...

Sorry in advance if this was answered previously - I've tried to do a search for this particular problem and I wasn't successful at all.:confused:

My setup: Motorola 6416 (Shaw), WinXP Home SP2, Intel T2050 dual core @1.60GHZ, 1GB RAM

I've installed ExDeus' drivers according to the instructions and the drivers seem to be installed correctly.

After connecting my STB via firewire and running capDVHS, only the following data is populated during recording: size: 720x480, aspect ratio: 4:3, frame rate: 29.97 fps, bit rate: 2.908 Mbps (all other fields are blank). Under settings, I've checked: convert 188 bytes, check PTS, and delete to SyncByte. All extensions were changed to .ts.

Although it appears that something is being captured (.ts files are being created with various file sizes), all I get is blank screens with no audio whatsoever. Furthermore, when I try to open the .ts files with VLC version 0.9.6 I get the message "VLC can't recognize the input's format".

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks in advance, and happy holidays to all.

Sorry in advance if this was answered previously - I've tried to do a search for this particular problem and I wasn't successful at all.:confused:

My setup: Motorola 6416 (Shaw), WinXP Home SP2, Intel T2050 dual core @1.60GHZ, 1GB RAM

I've installed ExDeus' drivers according to the instructions and the drivers seem to be installed correctly.

After connecting my STB via firewire and running capDVHS, only the following data is populated during recording: size: 720x480, aspect ratio: 4:3, frame rate: 29.97 fps, bit rate: 2.908 Mbps (all other fields are blank). Under settings, I've checked: convert 188 bytes, check PTS, and delete to SyncByte. All extensions were changed to .ts.

Although it appears that something is being captured (.ts files are being created with various file sizes), all I get is blank screens with no audio whatsoever. Furthermore, when I try to open the .ts files with VLC version 0.9.6 I get the message "VLC can't recognize the input's format".

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong? Thanks in advance, and happy holidays to all.

I must be a "n00b" at this too 'cause I'm having a similar problem. Running a totally up-to-date WinXP SP3, and also using a Moto 6416. Running CapDVHS with the same settings as above, and getting similar results.

At first when I started trying to do this I was getting perfect video with no audio. Then when I switched Firewire ports from the front of my PC (on my Audigy Platinum box) to a Firewire port on the back of my PC - integrated into the motherboard, I got perfect audio and video - once. Now I'm not getting audio or video no matter what Firewire port I use. I'm only trying to get broadcast stations here (ABC and FOX) so I'm not sure why that is.

I'm not getting the "VLC can't recognize the input's format" error message, but other than that, my experience is pretty much exactly the same as the above poster. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance and Happy Holidays!

EDITED TO ADD: If it makes a difference, I have FiOS.

After connecting my STB via firewire and running capDVHS, only the following data is populated during recording: size: 720x480, aspect ratio: 4:3, frame rate: 29.97 fps, bit rate: 2.908 Mbps
Sounds like the recording itself is going fine, or you wouldn't see any fields populated... So now it's a playback issue... I would try using VideoReDo's quickstream fix and then try to play that file in VLC or even better, in ZoomPlayer...

Vista 64 Question.

I set up this system almost two years ago on a Dell with XP and it worked great even for HD. Now I have a new HTPC running Vista 64 but it looks like there still aren't any drivers or any way to record via Firewire to a Vista machine. Is this true? Is there some way to pull it off?

Vista 64 Question.

I set up this system almost two years ago on a Dell with XP and it worked great even for HD. Now I have a new HTPC running Vista 64 but it looks like there still aren't any drivers or any way to record via Firewire to a Vista machine. Is this true? Is there some way to pull it off?

Unfortunately not without some really creative programming work. The current drivers are based off some real archaic Panasonic provided tape drivers from WAY back and there are currently no 64 bit versions. Unfortunately there's no other drivers capable for our use and it's not real easy to write them from scratch.

I'm trying to get my timmoore firewire STB drivers (with ExDeus updates) working with XP MCE and a new Cisco RNG200 (aka SA8540?) on Comcast in Houston.

Questions: Will it work if I force the Exdeus firewire STB drivers to install for the Cisco RNG200? If so, which device (Scientific Atlanta SAxxxx?) should I point to? Or does it even matter?

More Questions: Has anyone (especially in Houston) had any luck getting *ANY* of the "current" Comcast STBs to work with XP MCE via firewire? Do I need to switch to Sage TV? Should I just chuck it all and get a TiVo? MCE is so nice (IMO), so I prefer to keep it.

NOTES: This RNG200 seems to be the HD box Comcast in Houston is pushing. I've also tried various Scientific Atlanta boxes... SA3250HD and SA4250HDC installed fine, changing channels worked fine, but most firewire recordings were just frame captures with audio. I had one that worked for a while, but then overheated one day and I had to swap it. New one, same model, didn't work either. Maybe Comcast did something.

My previous Motorola 6200 worked great, but Comcast Houston recently cut off all Motorolas and is handing out Scientific Atlantas only.

Thanks in advance. And my appologies if this has all been covered. I only got 5 thread search hits for RNG200.

After I posted this question "I have the Motorola 6416 connected now to my Samsung 550. Since the storage is so small on the DVR and Cable One does not activate the feature to allow external hard drives (ie WD Passport, etc) to connect to their boxes, I would also like to connect my MCE 2005 computer to the 6416 for HD recording. Would someone tell me how to do this? Is there a splitter for the output from the cable box?" I was referred here.

If I am making sense of this thread, the PC and 6416 must be connected via firewire??

If so, which device (Scientific Atlanta SAxxxx?) should I point to? Or does it even matter?
Since in the end they all install the same driver, just pick any... ;) The multiple entries are simply so the driver will install automatically when some matching entries are found.

changing channels worked fine, but most firewire recordings were just frame captures with audio.
Always a good idea to run those files through VideoReDo's quickstream fix and see if that helps... The output of my PACE 551HD is terrible and crashes VLC, but if I simply dump the stream to file and QS fix it, then it's all good...

Hoping someone can help. I have the Motorola DCH3416 and Windows Vista and had everything up and running fine. Yesterday I had take out my firewire card for a minute, and when I put it back in and plugged the STB into the port nothing happpened. Windows does not detect that it is connected. If I show nonpresent devices in the device manager the Motorola AV/C Tuner & Panel devices are shown as not connected. Also, there are a couple of other instances of the IEEE 1394 Host Controller showing as not connected in addition to one that is "active", but with different PCI bus & device numbers (though same PCI slot), could that have anything to do with it? Somehow the STB is tied to the old "nonpresent" 1394 controller driver?

For the life of me, I can't figure out why Windows won't recognize the Motorola anymore. I tried uninstalling everything and reinstalling but it still doesn't get detected. I verified both the cable and the firewire port are working by connecting another device.

After I posted this question "I have the Motorola 6416 connected now to my Samsung 550. Since the storage is so small on the DVR and Cable One does not activate the feature to allow external hard drives (ie WD Passport, etc) to connect to their boxes, I would also like to connect my MCE 2005 computer to the 6416 for HD recording. Would someone tell me how to do this? Is there a splitter for the output from the cable box?" I was referred here.

If I am making sense of this thread, the PC and 6416 must be connected via firewire??

Correct. That will allow you to transfer content to your PC, provided it's not flagged to prevent that.

Thank you so much.

Hey guys, I'm running an SA3250HD with firewire to PC with XP SP3

This is my first try at capturing HD content through this method. All I can say is CRASH! :eek: At best, these new drivers freeze VLC, or at worst, out right blue screens when I try to use Sony Vegas v9 while loading. Until today, never EVER had a crash with this PC. Scary stuff.

I followed the installation instructions on Tim M Moore's page (http://home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire/).

Any ideas:confused:
Thanks
B

I've read quite a few pages in this enormous thread - not all but quite a few!! and I apologize if the answer is in here somewhere, but.....

Running a DCT6416 III, on Cogeco cable - connected to my laptop through the firewire port.

I've installed all drivers - the Moto Tuner is visible and can be selected with CAPDVHS.

I'm trying to record both live TV, standard channels as well as transfer recorded programs from the PVR (again standard channels, not hidef).

Recording live TV gives me great video but no audio. I've run the .ts file through some of the suggested repair programs and the errors relate to "NO PIDS????" Hope this makes sense - please see my login name - I am really new to this. It appear that no audio came down with the stream.

What am I missing?

Thanks in advance

Follow up to my previous post...

I have the Moto DCT6416 connected to my Aquos with HDMI.

When I capture the signal through the firewire port to VLC on my laptop, the image in VLC runs but the image on the my TV freezes. I assumed that I would see the same feed on both devices.

Again, hope this makes sense.
Thanks

Follow up to my previous post...

I have the Moto DCT6416 connected to my Aquos with HDMI.

When I capture the signal through the firewire port to VLC on my laptop, the image in VLC runs but the image on the my TV freezes. I assumed that I would see the same feed on both devices.

Again, hope this makes sense.
Thanks

I have the same problem with the 6416 ever since Comcast updated the software last October. The picture freezes on the tv but does record on the pc. They have blocked a lot of channels in my area, i use to be able to record programs that i had recorded on the dvr but not anymore.

Sounds like the recording itself is going fine, or you wouldn't see any fields populated... So now it's a playback issue... I would try using VideoReDo's quickstream fix and then try to play that file in VLC or even better, in ZoomPlayer...

Can't speak for Dulait, but I know for my (similar) problem, doing a hard reset of the Moto 6416 made everything work fine which makes me think it was a recording issue since I didn't change anything for playback. Maybe firewire handshaking issues? I don't know. But I can now record video and audio for broadcast HD channels. Other people with 6416 issues may want to try a hard reset and see if that fixes it.

Do not use VLC, only use CAP D-VHS

Do not use VLC, only use CAP D-VHS

I'm assuming this is in ref. to my post above.

I rebooted the PVR and changed out my firewire cable and for some unknown reason I am now able to record from an SD channel with CAPDVHS, including audio :) But when I attempt to record the feed from an HD channel I get no recording at all. I've checked the 5C status and it is not enabled on this channel - happens to be TSNHD.

Any idea what might be wrong with the recording from the HD channel?
Thanks

Hmm drivers dont seem to work properly with Windows 7. Looks like they need to be tweeked to work.

still no 64bit?

still no 64bit?
We're all using a 5-9 year old driver written by Matsushita (Toshiba or Panasonic now?) for a tape device, so don't hold your breath...

We're all using a 5-9 year old driver written by Matsushita (Toshiba or Panasonic now?) for a tape device, so don't hold your breath...

Yeah no kidding...wonder if I could find a developer online to create one for me

Yeah no kidding...wonder if I could find a developer online to create one for me


How about starting an email campaign to petition Panasonic to at least release the old source code? Then it could be updated, rather than starting from scratch.

Well if someone does try to make a 64bit compatible drive I'm sure some of us would be willing to donate to the 64bit driver fund.

For now I have to keep my old PC running to record.

my provider (cox) just updated the firmware to version 16.55 May 8, 2008 11:42:50 and now I can not record anything that is recorded on the dvr, I can only record live video which really sucks. Has anyone had any issues with this and if so have you resolved it? Hope you guys can help. Thanks!!!!

my provider (cox) just updated the firmware to version 16.55 May 8, 2008 11:42:50 and now I can not record anything that is recorded on the dvr, I can only record live video which really sucks. Has anyone had any issues with this and if so have you resolved it? Hope you guys can help. Thanks!!!!

Do you mean OTA stuff (NBC,CBS,FOX and NBC) or premium channels?

Hmm drivers dont seem to work properly with Windows 7. Looks like they need to be tweeked to work.

How do you know this did not screw something up?

my provider (cox) just updated the firmware to version 16.55 May 8, 2008 11:42:50 and now I can not record anything that is recorded on the dvr, I can only record live video which really sucks. Has anyone had any issues with this and if so have you resolved it? Hope you guys can help. Thanks!!!!

See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1032148).

See this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1032148).

Thanks but that didn't help. It seems to been an issue with my model DVR (I have the same one downstairs). Some other people in orange county have different models and no problems. I am just going to swap this out for a different on...too bad I will miss all the battlestar galactica episodes tomorrow :(

hi,

i have been using timmmoore's channel changer via firewire on mot6200 for a few years now. i've just changed to fios and was expecting qip6200 boxes but ended up with qip7100 unexpectedly. are there firewire drivers yet for the qip7100? i've googled around a bit and the site that is updating the drivers doesn't show the qip7100, so i guess it is pretty new (mp4 decoding capable)

all i need to do is maintain channel change capability via firewire.

thanks

The old drivers should work the same. Just manually install any of the drivers in the pack since they're all the same except for the difference in the device name. If you're using the command-line channel changer, you may need to add the "-f" switch to force it to send out the commands to a device that it doesn't recognize.

I apologize if this has been covered, but I can record 720P pretty flawlessly, but all the 1080 channels are loaded with green blocky artifacts. Since it seems to be determined by res I'm assuming this is not copy protection. Any ideas how to fix it? My PC is pretty powerful. I've tried two firewire cards.

The old drivers should work the same. Just manually install any of the drivers in the pack since they're all the same except for the difference in the device name. If you're using the command-line channel changer, you may need to add the "-f" switch to force it to send out the commands to a device that it doesn't recognize.

thank you so much!! since the drivers are the same, i edited firestb.inf
to add the qip-7100 (after backing up the original version from ExDeus)

procedure:
there are two places in the current firestb.inf file where qip-6200 is mentioned, two lines each place.

copy those 2 lines and paste right after the qip-6200 lines, then replace 6200 with 7100.........then go to the next place where qip-6200 is mentioned and repeat the process..........save and the install will go exactly as it always has and will recognize the qip-7100

thanks again for the quick advice!

edit: yes, it did require the registry arguments to include the -f option.....thanks again
i now have 2 firewire channel changers working beautifully

I apologize if this has been covered, but I can record 720P pretty flawlessly, but all the 1080 channels are loaded with green blocky artifacts. Since it seems to be determined by res I'm assuming this is not copy protection. Any ideas how to fix it? My PC is pretty powerful. I've tried two firewire cards.

You might need a faster hard drive

You might need a faster hard drive
Unlikely. All HDTV, whether 720p or 1080i, is encoded in the same range of bitrates. Besides, the highest bitrate channels only use about 19Mbit/s or 2.3MByte/s, while most modern hard drives are capable of writing at 40+MByte/s.

I'm no n00b, but I can't manage to get ExDeus drivers installed on Vista 32-bit Business for my Motorola DCT-6416 III. I had it working back in XP, but Vista keeps telling me during the attemped driver install it fails because "Windows cannot find the file specified."

It just leaves it vague like that. I tried to pick through the .inf to see if I found some missing link but never did. Am I missing a step or doing something wrong?

The old drivers should work the same. Just manually install any of the drivers in the pack since they're all the same except for the difference in the device name. If you're using the command-line channel changer, you may need to add the "-f" switch to force it to send out the commands to a device that it doesn't recognize.

is there a delay argument so that the system will initiate the channel change but wait N seconds before exiting the channel.dll?

not sure if it is the -f switch but i'm getting recodrings of 2 seconds of the old channel before i see the video switch to the new channel

-f forces it to send the commands even if it doesn't recognize the device. As for delaying a batch file or something, sleep.exe is available as part of the Windows 2003 Resource Kit on the Microsoft website and will let you pause for the specified number of seconds to let everything finish changing.

-f forces it to send the commands even if it doesn't recognize the device. As for delaying a batch file or something, sleep.exe is available as part of the Windows 2003 Resource Kit on the Microsoft website and will let you pause for the specified number of seconds to let everything finish changing.

i was wondering if there was a parameter internal to channel.dll that did this.

i use the timmmoore's PostChange argument in the registry for channel.dll to point to the following batch file containing

@ping 127.0.0.1 -n 8 -w 1000 > nul

which tries to ping a nonexistent ip address 8 times and waits 1000ms for each response, to get an 8second delay

Only problem with that is 127.0.0.1 maps to localhost (your PC), so it will get an immediate response and not wait 8 seconds. Sleep.exe is a much simpler solution, and I've even zipped it and attached it to this post so you don't have to install the Resource Kit. Put it somewhere in your path and run "sleep 8" and it will sleep for 8 seconds before returning control.

Only problem with that is 127.0.0.1 maps to localhost (your PC), so it will get an immediate response and not wait 8 seconds. Sleep.exe is a much simpler solution, and I've even zipped it and attached it to this post so you don't have to install the Resource Kit. Put it somewhere in your path and run "sleep 8" and it will sleep for 8 seconds before returning control.

ooops, fingers on autopilot.........replace 127.0.0.1 with an ip address that is really nonexistant like
111.1.1.1

thanks for sleep.exe

Actually, cat, you had it right the first time (except for the parameter order and that you don't need to specify the -w 1000 to get one second's delay). The ping to localhost does cause a delay of about one second for each increment of "-n". Since ping is part of nearly all Windows installations, while sleep.exe and its ilk are only specially available, I prefer the ping solution and have used it often; e.g., in this batch utility (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10689441#post10689441).

I'm assuming this is in ref. to my post above.

I rebooted the PVR and changed out my firewire cable and for some unknown reason I am now able to record from an SD channel with CAPDVHS, including audio :) But when I attempt to record the feed from an HD channel I get no recording at all. I've checked the 5C status and it is not enabled on this channel - happens to be TSNHD.

Any idea what might be wrong with the recording from the HD channel?
Thanks

Posted two weeks ago but no response. Not able to record from an HD channel.
Anyone??

Posted two weeks ago but no response. Not able to record from an HD channel.
It simply means that one of the other copy protection flag is on, the displayed 5C value is only one part of the equation...

It simply means that one of the other copy protection flag is on, the displayed 5C value is only one part of the equation...

This is on TSNHD (Not sure where you are located, so hope you're familiar with it. It's not a movie channel or subscription service - The Sports Network. I can record this channel on the analog dial). I'm not sure what you mean by "one of the other....flag".
I don't see any other flags. Can you elaborate?
Thanks

I have a comcast motorola dch6416 dvr and Vista and I have tried the instructions but it won't find a driver in the download from Tim. Can anyone help?

never mind. Just saw where 64 bit is not supported.

I still can't get the drivers to properly install in Vista 32-bit... any tips?

I hope someone can solve my nightmare
I have been capping without any issues for ages on my DELL laptop.
All of a sudden i got a virus and i had to do a reinstall.
I seem to remember that back when WINDOWS upgraded to SERV PACK 2 that it presented a problem for me capping so i did the hotfix and all was good.
I am now currently after my reinstall on service pack 3 of windows and i have tried installing mce 2005 for vista even tho i have xp media cent edition.
I cannot get this to work.
I also tried going back to service pack 2 installing the hotfix but that would not work either.
Does anyone have any idea what could be causing my issue and also if they know of any issues capping using the above software using service pack 3 ?:confused:

I have since requested the firewire hotfix for service pack 3 installed it and it made no difference at all i cant seem to install the boxes when installing any one of my 3 pvrs i get errors on the install?
So if anyone has any idea on what could be causing this and maybe if i should just go back to service pack 2 and just start this whole thing over.

You need to give us a little bit more information. What box are you using? What provider do you have? What firmware version do you have? I know the DCT3416's in cox oc will not record from firewire since the last firmware ( there is a newer version but they havent released it)

someone must have drivers for vista 64 bit???
no????

I am using TIME WARNER CABLE DALLAS.. i went back to sp2 and installed the so called HOTFIX.. and i am using a MOTO 6412 but while installing the box it fails.
I have been doing this for years and i was capping fine until i just wiped my laptop clean a few days ago because of virus.
Iinstalled MCE500 and when that comes up on the reboot it says mce could not load. if i install the vista version of mce that does not happen. However when i hook up the firewire cable to my box it detects the box and starts to install everything but it stops and seems to not allow the drivers to be installed..
I have 3 boxes and its doing the same on all 3.
I do not think TWC in Dallas have done anything its something with my pc i am sure.
But quite what i do not know

Does anyone on here use an EXPLORER 8240HDC and are they able to record via firewire?

I can get it to recognize the device, giving it the correct name with the correct drivers but everytime I start a recording with CAPDVHS it instantly stops the program (in VISTA) saying that the ts file can't be recorded.

I am using TIME WARNER CABLE DALLAS.. i went back to sp2 and installed the so called HOTFIX.. and i am using a MOTO 6412 but while installing the box it fails.
I have been doing this for years and i was capping fine until i just wiped my laptop clean a few days ago because of virus.
Iinstalled MCE500 and when that comes up on the reboot it says mce could not load. if i install the vista version of mce that does not happen. However when i hook up the firewire cable to my box it detects the box and starts to install everything but it stops and seems to not allow the drivers to be installed..
I have 3 boxes and its doing the same on all 3.
I do not think TWC in Dallas have done anything its something with my pc i am sure.
But quite what i do not know
Have you just tried to use dvhs cap and see if you are at least getting a video signal?

Do you mean CAPDVHS? If so yes i have that installed but of course when i try and capture it will not because the box didnt install... i normally get to choose the box from the drop down but its no longer available in capdhvs to choose.

Keep trying...it will install

someone must have drivers for vista 64 bit???
no????
I am having the same problem. The drivers are not compatible with 64bit systems.

No offense meant, but please search the thread guys. It's been well explained why there are no 64 bit drivers available and why you may never see any. The core of this driver is based on an OLD, practically ancient tape unit driver from Panasonic way before 64 bit OSes became mainstream. And there's really no easy way to write a driver from scratch that'll work with these boxes.

No offense meant, but please search the thread guys. It's been well explained why there are no 64 bit drivers available and why you may never see any. The core of this driver is based on an OLD, practically ancient tape unit driver from Panasonic way before 64 bit OSes became mainstream. And there's really no easy way to write a driver from scratch that'll work with these boxes.

This is certainly true for Windows. It is a little surprising though that the 64 bit Mac OS has no trouble downloading from these firewire DVRs. I have a Windows box and a Mac OS box hooked to two different PVRs, and I'm starting to do most of my captures off the Mac since the capture software seems to work much more reliably. I don't mean to start a mac vs. PC war, but as more Windows boxes are the x64 version, it might be more difficult to do the capture from Windows.

Because the mac dosent need drivers for firewire video transfer, windows does

Because the mac dosent need drivers for firewire video transfer, windows does

Agreed. The Macs have been designed from even the early OS9 days (possibly OS8 at some point) for firewire functionality including video transfer capability. All of the support programmed in-house and well supported.

Unfortunately you have to realize that the method on the windows side is a REALLY crude hack so if it does get to a point that it no longer works in any feasible configuration, some other method needs to be devised or somebody needs to get really inventive in finding a way to either a) program a driver from scratch or b) hack the current one into submission. As it is there's already a couple of decent alternatives being a component HD capture card from hauppauge and also picking up even a real cheap Mac and using it as a recording node.

Has anyone tried doing this on a linux system?

I cant seem to get Vegas pro to accept the mpg files that result from capturing with cap d-vhs 0306...

When i drag the video into Sony Vegas 8.0c, it errors out with the following error:

Sony Vegas Pro 8.0
Version 8.0c (Build 260)
Exception 0xC0000005 (access violation) WRITE:0xAAA0000 IP:0x24A02BE1
In Module 'mcdddec.dll' at Address 0x24A00000 + 0x2BE1
Thread: AsyncPreroll ID=0x3210 Stack=0xAD1F000-0xAD20000

I've tried adding the klite codec pack (425) thinking this may have been the issue, but that didnt help.

I can play back the video file in media player or vlc just fine.

I have a similar problem if i import into Premier Pro Cs4... It says something to the effect of Media Pending in the video window...

Anyone have any thoughts on this one?

Thanks

I cant seem to get Vegas pro to accept the mpg files that result from capturing with cap d-vhs 0306...
Try saving the files with the .ts extension and see if your other programs can handle them. If not, run the files through VideoReDo quickstream fix first...

Try saving the files with the .ts extension and see if your other programs can handle them. If not, run the files through VideoReDo quickstream fix first...

rock on.. this worked like a treat (using videoredo)..

I couldnt get auto commercial deletion to work very well though, but at least it fixed whatever was wrong.

Thanks again

I have downloaded the proper drivers for my Motorola DCT3416 but I am having the problem a few users have had with the "The data is invalid" message after the drivers seem to install. I cannot seem to install either the AV/C Panel or the AV/C Tuner using the proper 3416 drivers....

Anyone have any solutions here??? I've been searching for weeks now......

Ok so today I tried to capture from my Comcast motorola 3412 DVR. I have used this DCT64xx Firewire capture and HD/SD to DVD guide (http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/index.html) but My computer never finds the new hardware? I have the dvr on. The Firewire plugged into the port closest to the power cable and the firewire cable plugged into a working firewire port on my pc. Any ideas why my pc won't find the new hardware.

Also, when checking the diagnostics on the comcast 3412 dvr it says under D11 that the 1394 ports are enabled but not active.

Active Ports=0
5c Implementation = No
Copy control = Copy Free

Can anyone help me out with this problem?

is there away to set the port to active?

First off, let me say I am stoked to finally be messing around with firewire capture on my Moto dch-3416! The box's FW port is active, everything installed great, the box responds to channel commands (with -f enabled) and I can even capture all of my HD channels in CapDVHS! The resultant files play fine even in WMP, which was really surprising!

However, when I try to watch live from VLC, it seems like nothing happens. Could this be a filter/codec issue, or is something futzed with either the box or with VLC?

Any thoughts? I briefly tried MPCHC (without installing any extra filters) and MPCHC crashed. I hope I can get this to work so I can ditch Comcast's terrbile DVR interface and move over to Sage or something like it.

PS - The files that I record from the stb using CapDVHS play fine in both VLC and MPCHC. Graphedit says the decoder being used is "CyberLink Video/SP Decoder"

Has anyone here had any luck with modifiying the drivers for windows 7?

I have tracked down the error to 800705AA...basically it is the windows services pack 2 bug from xp but now in win 7. I tried to modify windows the same way but i get nowhere. The drivers install but caapdvhs wont capture...:\

Anyone have any idea why the local CBS here in NYC now has the 5c encryption? I can't get a thing off of it through Fios. How do I file a complaint for this?

From what I can tell, Motorola boxes enforce copy protection if the station has the broadcast flag enabled. While mandatory support for the broadcast flag was struck down, there's nothing illegal about hardware supporting it or stations using it. Your choices are either contacting WCBS and complaining (and probably getting nowhere) or buying any of the many clear QAM tuners on the market that will tune the local channels on FiOS and happily ignore any broadcast flags.

I received my first DVR on 23 December. By 28 December I was on the telephone. To make a loooong story short (probably 10 calls and a similar number of hours on the telephone) I received a replacement on 10 February. The details for the two boxes are as follows:

First box with many many reboots (at the end every two or three minutes):

Reciever ID R1880049967-67
Software Version F202TALD-N
Boot Strap Version 1011TALD
Processor ID 29347110

Second box with reboots only when the guide is refreshed (so far) and have therefore shut off the auto refresh.

Receiver ID R1880052685-89
Software Version F201TALD-N
Boot Strap Version 1011 TALD
Processor ID 29379332

The second box was shrink wrapped but without cables, remote and instruction book. Fortunately, I had kept these when I sent in the first unit. (After many calls they supplied a UPS shipping label via email. They also sent a return label with the new unit!)

I have deliberately not updated the software on the new box lest something go wrong again. I have also deleted stations with signal strengths less than 80. I live in the Dallas area.

I am grateful for this forum and all the advice. Thank you.

thank you so much!! since the drivers are the same, i edited firestb.inf
to add the qip-7100 (after backing up the original version from ExDeus)

procedure:
there are two places in the current firestb.inf file where qip-6200 is mentioned, two lines each place.

copy those 2 lines and paste right after the qip-6200 lines, then replace 6200 with 7100.........then go to the next place where qip-6200 is mentioned and repeat the process..........save and the install will go exactly as it always has and will recognize the qip-7100

thanks again for the quick advice!

edit: yes, it did require the registry arguments to include the -f option.....thanks again
i now have 2 firewire channel changers working beautifully
Two questions:

1) How do you change the registry to add the "-f" option?
2) I used to have a Comcast DCT-6200 I could use to record via firewire, and just got a FiOS QIP-7100. The 7100 doesn't appear in Tim Moore's MyTray app—all I get is a N/A instead of the STB string I used to get. Is there a way to record from the 7100?

Thanks!

Can't get the 'New Hardware Found' message.

I want to capture recordings from my comcast motorola 6208
unit to my computer. I'm all set with the
drivers, and the firewire, and I have a comcast
supplied Motorola 6208 stb with ieee1394 6-pin
ports. I'm using the outboard port as posts have
said the inboard one is less functional.

I intend to use CapDvhs_306....

Step one, in the directions supplied on this site,
says that a 'new hardware found' notice will come
up upon insertion of the firewire connection
and further steps say to follow the detailed
descriptions of which drivers to install and
which to say 'no' to ....

But, I can't get past the first step. What to
do when no 'new hardware' is found?

1.) I have replaced the firewire wire with its
two ends. One with 6 pins one with 4 [its about
6 feet long].
My pci firewire card has a VIA chip and also has 3
enhanced USB ports which all work just fine
(version 2.0).

2.) I have tried both ieee1394 ports on the Moto6208.
model ID = 0x628A
version: 79.59 - a25p2-2.S1.r-8
firmware: 16.53

3.) I have read the diagnostic screens,
Port Status = page 11 of the Moto6208
and see that
a.) connected devices = 2
b.) the ports are enabled (yes) and active
(no). I assume they might even be active if the
port were connected successfully to the PC.
c.) Data Transmission = Not Active.
d.) 5c implementation = no
e.) copy control = copy free
e.) device id's available,
one is all 0's,
one is full of hex digits. [The 'left' one, i suppose.]

4.) The PC is a modified dell,
intel 2.8GHz,
1GB mem.,
winxp sp1
and pci card for Firewire / USB ports.

5.) PC Device manager shows two lines for
IEEE1394
a.) Bus Host controller (just a title line)
b.) VIA OHCI compliant host controller
NO red OR yellow notices of inoperability.
and no subsequent lines showing connectivity.

6.) the host controller uses .... MS driver
version 5.1.2535.0 .... VIA shows no further
drivers available with any numbers greater than
2535, that I could find.

in reading all the other posts I see that bcarter7878 has my exact problem except he/she uses a different stb. no responses there, yet

What can I do to make this PC see the motorola
6208 stb through its firewire connection? I must be overlooking something..........
Daveyjane

Can't get the 'New Hardware Found' message.

I want to capture recordings from my comcast motorola 6208
unit to my computer. I'm all set with the
drivers, and the firewire, and I have a comcast
supplied Motorola 6208 stb with ieee1394 6-pin
ports. I'm using the outboard port as posts have
said the inboard one is less functional.

I intend to use CapDvhs_306....

Step one, in the directions supplied on this site,
says that a 'new hardware found' notice will come
up upon insertion of the firewire connection
and further steps say to follow the detailed
descriptions of which drivers to install and
which to say 'no' to ....

But, I can't get past the first step. What to
do when no 'new hardware' is found?

1.) I have replaced the firewire wire with its
two ends. One with 6 pins one with 4 [its about
6 feet long].
My pci firewire card has a VIA chip and also has 3
enhanced USB ports which all work just fine
(version 2.0).

2.) I have tried both ieee1394 ports on the Moto6208.
model ID = 0x628A
version: 79.59 - a25p2-2.S1.r-8
firmware: 16.53

3.) I have read the diagnostic screens,
Port Status = page 11 of the Moto6208
and see that
a.) connected devices = 2
b.) the ports are enabled (yes) and active
(no). I assume they might even be active if the
port were connected successfully to the PC.
c.) Data Transmission = Not Active.
d.) 5c implementation = no
e.) copy control = copy free
e.) device id's available,
one is all 0's,
one is full of hex digits. [The 'left' one, i suppose.]

4.) The PC is a modified dell,
intel 2.8GHz,
1GB mem.,
winxp sp1
and pci card for Firewire / USB ports.

5.) PC Device manager shows two lines for
IEEE1394
a.) Bus Host controller (just a title line)
b.) VIA OHCI compliant host controller
NO red OR yellow notices of inoperability.
and no subsequent lines showing connectivity.

6.) the host controller uses .... MS driver
version 5.1.2535.0 .... VIA shows no further
drivers available with any numbers greater than
2535, that I could find.

in reading all the other posts I see that bcarter7878 has my exact problem except he/she uses a different stb. no responses there, yet

What can I do to make this PC see the motorola
6208 stb through its firewire connection? I must be overlooking something..........
Daveyjane



I had a similar problem, XP would not install external 1394 device drivers. What worked for my system.

I uninstalled the 1394 host controller (device manager)> Shutdown> pull the 1394 card > restart > check the device manger for red for yellow alerts
>Shutdown>reinstall the 1394 card,>restart windows,>wait for the your new hardware (1394) is ready to use,>check device manager for errors, it is now working, well at least the external 1394 devices are loading.

Let us know if this works for you.

Still trying to capture 1394 (firewire) video from comcast's motorola stb (6208). I tried Denbo_33's idea. Uninstalled my firewire/usb port card from the pci bus, rebooted without the card uninstalled to find no problems within the device manager. Reinstalled the firewire card and watched as it 'found new hardware', ...drivers were reloaded I suppose..., and the device manager now shows the 'VIA OHCI compliant hub' once again. No yellow or red exclaimation marks. MS. Driver 2535 back in place, no problems.
I then put the usb plugs in one at a time, watched as the functions came back into the device manager. Then the big test, ... plugged in the already rebooted and running and set to a copy free channel STB, and ...no joy. Winxp just sits there, at standby, awaiting fresh orders from the keyboard and mouse. No 'new hardware found' message from the insertion of the firewire plug for the set top box. I have never had the oportunity to install any drivers for this stb. I'm using the 'left' [outboard] 6pin firewire plug (as viewed from the front of the motorola set top box). I'm ready with the jvc tape drivers for my motorola box, but there's just no call from winxp to install them.

I'm still hoping for some fresh ideas. Thanks for the response from Denbo_33. I'm glad the reloading of the drivers worked for you.

trying to capture, ... Daveyjane

To anyone more knowledgeable, can having the home media DVR service (streaming dvr'd programs to all boxes in the house) from Verizon be preventing me from recording through CBS and Fox primetime? I was able to record from those channels as recently as late January, which was around the time I got the home media function turned on.

I think this sums up what most have tried with these boxes http://www.theonion.com/content/video/sony_releases_new_stupid_piece_of

Ever since Comcast did a firmware update a month & half ago I can no longer capture firewire from programs recorded on the DVR (Motorola DCT-3412). I can record live programs just fine, but if I try to record DVR programs, the picture on the TV freezes, and the files record with no sound (video but no audio).

I read a possible work-around that involves unplugging the firewire cable, but that didn't work (and in fact caused a windows blue-screen once..)

Is there any fix for this or are we SOL?

There is another entire thread on this - the Comcast problem is well known.

I have the same problem on my 6412. I used to have no problems capturing recorded programs, but now as soon as I start the capture the tv video freezes and there is no data info displayed in CapDVHS. The video is captured, but there's no sound. Live TV captures fine.

I have been searching for the last 3 hours for the above mentioned thread about this issue. Can anyone throw me a bone and post a link to the thread?...Thanks!

I have the same problem on my 6412. I used to have no problems capturing recorded programs, but now as soon as I start the capture the tv video freezes and there is no data info displayed in CapDVHS. The video is captured, but there's no sound. Live TV captures fine.

I have been searching for the last 3 hours for the above mentioned thread about this issue. Can anyone throw me a bone and post a link to the thread?...Thanks!

Here is the link to that thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1032148

Here is my workaround that works perfectly for me with DCT-3416:


Turn on my HTPC, which is connected to DCT-3416 via firewire, and enable split screen on my HDTV, so I can see HTPC and cable box.

Open CapDVHS on PC. Go to DVR section on the cable box and begin playing movie that was recorded to hard drive. After movie plays for couple seconds I press PAUSE.

Hit RECORD on CapDVHS. Hit PLAY on cable box remote.

CapDVHS begins recording data. Movie on the TV shows frozen frame.

After playback is done I copy file to my main PC for processing.

Load XXX.TS file into HDTVtoMPEG2, cut out five frames at the beginning of the video, and five frames before the end. Create new XXX-1.TS file.

Run XXX-1.TS file through MPEG2Repair and create a new XXX-2.TS file.

Run XXX-2.TS file through VideoReDo and create XXX-3.TS file.

Run XXX-3.TS file through tsMuxer and re-mux to XXX.M2TS file.

Turn on my PS3, start PS3 Media Server. Plays without any problem on PS3.

Just replace your box with the dch models...they look better and are quieter :)

I've had to do similar things with capdvhs resultant video.. I had to run the quick stream fix on videoredo to the mpg file..

This allowed it to work in Sony Vegas 8 Pro...

However, for some reason, in my one case, i had a 30GB file size.. i dumped that into dvd architect 5.0.. it said it was creating the iso file.. but when the file was done, it was only 2GB..

As a result i've had to rerender the files, but so far i've run into the issue that Vegas Pro 8.0, mainconcept, output options dont include ac3 and dolby digital.. So i've ran it through tsmux (to generate a m2ts file), then into architect, granted architect complains and says it must recompress the file, but i would have had to do so in vegas anyway.. this retains the ac3 (i think)..

Just replace your box with the dch models...they look better and are quieter :)

Mine has similar problems with firewire capture at the moment.

Here is the link to that thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1032148

Here is my workaround that works perfectly for me with DCT-3416 . . .

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

I've had to do similar things with capdvhs resultant video.. I had to run the quick stream fix on videoredo to the mpg file..

This allowed it to work in Sony Vegas 8 Pro...

However, for some reason, in my one case, i had a 30GB file size.. i dumped that into dvd architect 5.0.. it said it was creating the iso file.. but when the file was done, it was only 2GB..

As a result i've had to rerender the files, but so far i've run into the issue that Vegas Pro 8.0, mainconcept, output options dont include ac3 and dolby digital.. So i've ran it through tsmux (to generate a m2ts file), then into architect, granted architect complains and says it must recompress the file, but i would have had to do so in vegas anyway.. this retains the ac3 (i think)..

Can anyone comment on what setting they have found works best in editing the .mpg files from the dvr? IE: quickest and 1:1 quality.. either in vegas or another app?

Use VideoRedo plus :)

Thanks for the laughter!! pepsi just poured out my nose...has i ROFL :D

Hi all,
Ive tried reading this thread but it gets pretty loooooong and laborious.

Is there another way to record or transfer the HD content to hard drive and then play back?

I have the Motorolla 3416 and tried to use my laptop with Vista to record but no success.
I saw this thread here and they had same problems wit the Motorolla 3416.

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/moto-dvr-dct3416-from-comcast-can-i-get-the-recordings-off-the-dvr-t315279.html

is there another way? and "DVR Expander" that may work? A PC tuner/recorder card?

Thnaks in advance.

The only other way to get HD content off your computer is to buy an HD capture card with component input. You will need a RAID 0 or 5 array in place to capture as you wont be capturing the ts feed but rather the uncompressed feed. You will then need to recompress it as you will have a file that is a few hundred gigabytes in size.

The only other way to get HD content off your computer is to buy an HD capture card with component input. You will need a RAID 0 or 5 array in place to capture as you wont be capturing the ts feed but rather the uncompressed feed. You will then need to recompress it as you will have a file that is a few hundred gigabytes in size.

A few hundred gig? gulp....:eek:

What about getting a different DVR? one that you can hook up to an external hard drive?
Any suggestions?

Thanks

Has anyone here had any luck with modifiying the drivers for windows 7?

I have tracked down the error to 800705AA...basically it is the windows services pack 2 bug from xp but now in win 7. I tried to modify windows the same way but i get nowhere. The drivers install but caapdvhs wont capture...:\

There's a few different drivers for the firewire host controller on Windows 7, try changing it to the "1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)" one... it seems like its working for me.

There's a few different drivers for the firewire host controller on Windows 7, try changing it to the "1394 OHCI Compliant Host Controller (Legacy)" one... it seems like its working for me.

Thank you, I will try this :)

Hi, Im new here and I have a question.

Could anybody tell me how to set a parameter for VLC to open my capture device just by double clicking the vlc icon? I am able to watch tv on my computer using this device and firewire. I am using a Scientific Atlanta 4250HD and when I select my capture device in VLC it is named Scientific-Atlanta AV/C Tuner Device. I was also wondering how I can record what I am watching from my box using VLC. I have tried Capdvhs and it crashes after I press record. Any input is appreciated.

Has anyone tried doing this on a linux system?

If still interested see this POST


http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16062490#post16062490

Let me know and I'll send you the code.

Hi all,
Ive tried reading this thread but it gets pretty loooooong and laborious.

Is there another way to record or transfer the HD content to hard drive and then play back?

I have the Motorolla 3416 and tried to use my laptop with Vista to record but no success.
I saw this thread here and they had same problems wit the Motorolla 3416.

http://www.videohelp.com/forum/archive/moto-dvr-dct3416-from-comcast-can-i-get-the-recordings-off-the-dvr-t315279.html

is there another way? and "DVR Expander" that may work? A PC tuner/recorder card?

Thnaks in advance.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1055232

So on a whim this morning I tried the firewire connection on my SA8300HDC. This time though I am trying it on a Windows 7 (7057) laptop. Back on XP I could never get it to show anything but the two unknown devices and even the available linux utilities were dead in the water.

Now though on Win7 using the inbox drivers for the VIA chipped firewire card, I am picking up both the tuner and panel devices which install just fine with the available drivers here.
http://img214.imageshack.us/img214/934/devmgmt.th.png (http://img214.imageshack.us/my.php?image=devmgmt.png)

Tried both capdvhs and VLC though with no luck. capdvhs craps out at random, but often short, intervals on a number of different channels, all locals and live tv. Tried the PPV previews channel which is one that is always found clear QAM and thought it might help a bit. CapDVHS went a full minute with no crashes and stopped manually. 20MB TS file. But will not play back even in VLC. There's also the tiny detail of an empty Data Info page during recording.

Checked one of the previous replies which mentioned changing the firewire driver to the generic 1394 OHCI legacy driver. Did so and it went back to the old habit of just picking up the two unknown devices from the STB.

With all that known, am I still dead in the water here with this POS box or do I actually have a chance of getting something working here?

I have A Motorola QIP-6416-2 DVR. I Hooked the QIP-6416 firewire output to my HP Media PC running Vista Home Media OS. I downloaded the ExDeus driver package, unzipped all the files, and put them in a folder. When the new driver wizard came up. I pointed it at the new driver folder, but the wizard said it couldn't find the driver. The Device Manager shows the QIP-6416 Panel & tuner devices as well as an unknown device, but nothing I have tried will get it to find & load the drivers. What am I doing wrong?

teledontamas

Well, kinda half sorted my own problem posted above. Irony abounds, CapDVHS seems to have zero issues recording a DVR'd program. Just tested with the first 15 minutes of last night's Law and Order: SVU off the local NBC HD feed (WKYC-HD, Time Warner Cable). Even the data info tab shows the appropriate info (1920x1080, 16:9, 29.97fps, 35mbps bitrate). But any live channels and it dies.

I'm gonna test and see if it goes any differently on any non-local channels and post back.

Just for relevant info: This is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC (8240HDC to be exact) running Navigator ODN 2.4.10_11 in Time Warner territory here in Northeast Ohio.

Well, kinda half sorted my own problem posted above. Irony abounds, CapDVHS seems to have zero issues recording a DVR'd program. Just tested with the first 15 minutes of last night's Law and Order: SVU off the local NBC HD feed (WKYC-HD, Time Warner Cable). Even the data info tab shows the appropriate info (1920x1080, 16:9, 29.97fps, 35mbps bitrate). But any live channels and it dies.

I'm gonna test and see if it goes any differently on any non-local channels and post back.

Just for relevant info: This is a Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC (8240HDC to be exact) running Navigator ODN 2.4.10_11 in Time Warner territory here in Northeast Ohio.

I've tried using my in-laws box in the same area. I was able to record 1 minute of DVR'd programming off a local NBC network, but live just kills the program every time.

I wanted to call Time Warner to see if they were offering boxes from any other manufacturer.

I downloaded the ExDeus driver package, unzipped all the files, and put them in a folder. When the new driver wizard came up. I pointed it at the new driver folder, but the wizard said it couldn't find the driver.
It sounds like you followed the install correctly, but to be sure, can you verify you followed the Vista install process here (http://exdeus.home.comcast.net/~exdeus/stbfirewire/#_Toc185690663)?

I include the QIP-6416, but it's possible the QIP-6416-2 needs to be added. You can help me add it to the driver package by doing the following:

I need the PnP IDs. Connect the STB to your PC via firewire, cancel the New Hardware Wizard(s), and then do the following:

Go to Device Mgr.
Double-click the Tuner device.
Go to the Details tab.
Select "Hardware Ids" from the drop-down box.
Select one of the Hardware IDs.
Press Ctrl+C to copy it.
Reply to the PM, put your cursor in the reply, and press Ctrl+V to paste it.
Repeat the copy/paste for each of the Hardware IDs.
Click Cancel to close the device window for the Tuner.
Repeat the procedure for the Panel device.

A few hundred gig? gulp....:eek:

What about getting a different DVR? one that you can hook up to an external hard drive?
Any suggestions?

Thanks
Off topic: I moved and lost my Moto DVR in exchange for an SA box that won't let me capture a thing.

How about a Tivo HD? Any un-copy-protected (read: non-premium channel) content is freely transferable to a PC or Mac with the free Tivo Desktop software. Alternatively, the Tivo also runs a small web server internally, so any computer with a browser can download the files.

It sounds like you followed the install correctly, but to be sure, can you verify you followed the Vista install process?

I include the QIP-6416, but it's possible the QIP-6416-2 needs to be added. You can help me add it to the driver package by finding the PnP IDs. Connect the STB to your PC via firewire, cancel the New Hardware Wizard(s), and then do the following:
(Instructions elided)


I will do that tonight and post my findings. Thanks ExDeus for the prompt reply.

I wanted to call Time Warner to see if they were offering boxes from any other manufacturer.

Tell you what. If you do try and succeed, lemme know exactly what was said to get them to do anything about it.

But I wouldn't get my hopes up as I had tried already and got nowhere. I did at one point get one of Steve Fry's (Big cheese of TWC's NEO region) secretaries to get somewhere on it and stated either the 8300HD (not HDC) or the 3250HD would work as expected. Problem though is none of the tech's had any of either model and the local office wouldn't even consider giving me one with the reasoning 'they had to leave them for areas that absolutely needed them' which is kinda BS considering almost everyone has been violently shoved sideways into the 8300HDC's so tons of 8300HD and 3250HD boxes should be available.

Though at least this is a small step in the right direction.

ExDeus, here are the PnP IDs for my QIP-6416-2:

Tuner
AVC\MOTOROLA&QIP-6416&TYP_5&ID_0
AVC\MOTOROLA&QIP-6416&TYP_5

Panel
MOTOROLA QIP-6416 AV/C Panel

Unknown
1394\5068&10101

Hopefully this will help you update your drivers for the -2 model...

Tell you what. If you do try and succeed, lemme know exactly what was said to get them to do anything about it.

But I wouldn't get my hopes up as I had tried already and got nowhere. I did at one point get one of Steve Fry's (Big cheese of TWC's NEO region) secretaries to get somewhere on it and stated either the 8300HD (not HDC) or the 3250HD would work as expected. Problem though is none of the tech's had any of either model and the local office wouldn't even consider giving me one with the reasoning 'they had to leave them for areas that absolutely needed them' which is kinda BS considering almost everyone has been violently shoved sideways into the 8300HDC's so tons of 8300HD and 3250HD boxes should be available.

Though at least this is a small step in the right direction.

They have two boxes, one is the HD 8240, the other an ANCIENT box that may be over 10 years old. Yet TWC charges them the same fee for both. Only difference is a $7.00 DVR fee for the HD box.

I'm trying to get them to swap out the second one but it would be pointless if it was still be the same dead-end as far as firewire capturing.

The SA boxes have always been terrible for Firewire, assuming you can get them to work at all. The old firmware versions used to work if you chanted the right incantations and connected everything at exactly the right time. However, since the updates a few years ago, it all stopped working; I tried 4 or 5 different boxes and 3 different PCs and all combinations gave the same video half full of glitching and green blocks. Without something better than the current hack of a driver, it's pretty much hopeless.

Well, at least in my case that I have seen thus far, I wouldn't say that are completely terrible. Especially if you realize that it's a hack in the first place and not a supported connection by any stretch. But like I said, and I'll emphasize, this is my observation under my circumstances.

So far with my 'fixed' setup it has been pretty predictable.

~Only the local and local HD channels and a few 'special' channels from the cableco like the PPV previews loop work. The rest eventually crash CapDVHS at any random point (can be a few seconds, a few minutes...It'll even produce a properly sized TS file. Just nothing in it readable by tsreader).
~After a CapDVHS crash, must unplug and replug the firewire cable and reload CapDVHS or else it errors out (a known error posted here, but I forget off the top of my head)
~Must be a previously recorded show. Cannot be a recording in progress or a live show time-shifted. Has to be already recorded.

Beyond that, predictable. Windows 7 7057 machine (seems to be key here. The updated in-box firewire drivers seem to help pick up the tuner/panel devices whereas the legacy drivers both on Win7 and as they were included in XP SP2/SP3 just gave me two unknown devices that CapDVHS wouldn't use), 8300HDC (well, 8240HDC specifically. But it's the 8300 series) with Navigator ODN 2.4.10_11.

The only really unpredictable thing I have found is that sometimes the HD locals will crash capdvhs at random points regardless of what's recording or what channel. But the few tests of recordings off the SD locals I have gone for up to 15-20 minutes without a problem before manually cutting it off. No clue exactly what the problem is but my current assumption lays on the higher incoming bitrate and the system keeping up. I may try elevating the process priority next time and see how it handles then.

That sounds terrible to me. My Moto box just works. Plugged it in, installed using ExDeus's drivers, and rebooted. Every channel without copy-protection records without crashing, and anything with protection is immediately clear because none of the data fills in. If the box gets an update pushed and reboots while CapDVHS is open, CapDVHS loses track of the device, but closing and reopening the program clears it up.

That sounds terrible to me. My Moto box just works. Plugged it in, installed using ExDeus's drivers, and rebooted. Every channel without copy-protection records without crashing, and anything with protection is immediately clear because none of the data fills in. If the box gets an update pushed and reboots while CapDVHS is open, CapDVHS loses track of the device, but closing and reopening the program clears it up.

Yeah, my Moto boxes work near flawlessly. Even the firmware error that caused DVR'd programming to 'freeze' the picture still works with an elaborate workaround (that isn't that elaborate at all).

So how do people with SA boxed get HD programming off the box? Capture Cards and HDMI cables?

I can record fine in live stream but when I use playback of what's recorded, the playback stops, but CapDVHS continues recording. Any way to fix this issue?

I use VLC Player to record from SA box. Works fine and stops recording when the DVR stream stops. Depends on the channel though or the content. Some are locked, some show blocky artifacts others work great. For some reason on TWC, tuning to Science Channel HD before playing back the DVR content reduces artifacts - for me anywho.

To use VLC..
- open Capture Device
- select your cable box tuner for video device name
- select Stream output to file (next to play button)
- select 'dump raw input' (don't select any codecs or other options)

Update: I'm not sure if this is related but I also use the k-lite codec pack, which might be needed for playback. Not sure.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm

Very interesting. What is the box model and what software is it running? Also, what TWC region are you in? I haven't tried VLC yet but I have it on here. Mostly haven't tried it 'cause what options you needed to use weren't exactly clearly laid out.

I use VLC Player to record from SA box. Works fine and stops recording when the DVR stream stops. Depends on the channel though or the content. Some are locked, some show blocky artifacts others work great. For some reason on TWC, tuning to Science Channel HD before playing back the DVR content reduces artifacts - for me anywho.

To use VLC..
- open Capture Device
- select your cable box tuner for video device name
- select Stream output to file (next to play button)
- select 'dump raw input' (don't select any codecs or other options)

I've tried this method in the past and I know that for my Time Warner area, it's a no-go.

So is there no way to upload previously recorded material on the DVR to a PC or external HD?...I have the Motorola DCT3412 and trying to archive a few games that I don't want to lose.

Thanks

So is there no way to upload previously recorded material on the DVR to a PC or external HD?...I have the Motorola DCT3412 and trying to archive a few games that I don't want to lose.

Thanks

Did you try the workaround?

1. Start your recorded show and pause it about a minute or so before where you want to capture.
2. Plug in the firewire to your laptop or PC (for me, this "unpauses" the recording and it starts playing again).
3. Starts CapDVHS and hit Record (At this point the recorded show will stop).
4. Push the play button on the DVR remote.

After you push play, nothing happens--the recorded show seems to be frozen but it is being recorded you just don't see it on the screen. You have to know how long the recording is and then stop it after that amount of time but leave a minute or so extra at least. Then use HDTVtoMPEG to repair the file (the original recorded ts file will cause an error in VideoReDo--won't load it)--just add the file to HDTVtoMPEG and hit process--the default is set up to record it as a ts file. I would leave some extra at the beginning and end because their seems to be problems at the beginnng and end of the file but when you trim that off with VideoReDo you can then convert it to MPEG and have a file that is recognized by programs such as Pinnacle Studio or Windows Media Player. DivxConverter recognizes the re-recorded ts file but you have to download a free AC3 Filter here:

http://ac3filter.net/project/1/releases

... and then you can convert it to Divx and retain the 5.1 audio and high definition video if you want a smaller file.

I've tried this method in the past and I know that for my Time Warner area, it's a no-go.

I'm not sure if this is related but I also use the k-lite codec pack, which might be needed for playback. Not sure.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm

Did you try the workaround?

Then use HDTVtoMPEG to repair the file (the original recorded ts file will cause an error in VideoReDo--won't load it)--just add the file to HDTVtoMPEG and hit process--the default is set up to record it as a ts file. I would leave some extra at the beginning and end because their seems to be problems at the beginnng and end of the file but when you trim that off with VideoReDo you can then convert it to MPEG and have a file that is recognized by programs such as Pinnacle Studio or Windows Media Player. DivxConverter recognizes the re-recorded ts file but you have to download a free AC3 Filter here:


I just tried your workaround and it worked except after running it through HDTVtoMPEG Videoredo still wouldn't open it. The file did play with sound but i can't trim it. Any suggestions? This is really good news, i have some recorded programs i've been wanting to save.

Thanks for the info.

I just tried your workaround and it worked except after running it through HDTVtoMPEG Videoredo still wouldn't open it. The file did play with sound but i can't trim it. Any suggestions? This is really good news, i have some recorded programs i've been wanting to save.

Thanks for the info.

Try MPEGRepiair

Try MPEGRepiair

HDTV2MPEG2 worked if i changed the output to Mpeg2 instead of ts.

HDTV2MPEG2 worked if i changed the output to Mpeg2 instead of ts.

And as I understand it, its basically the same quality file so it really doesn't matter the extension as HDTV2MPEG's default doesn't compress the file, just re-encodes it (I think--not entirely sure);

Try enabling the "Ignore transport stream maps" option in VideoReDo.

Thanks, I will try that.

I'm baffled. Need ideas.

This past weekend I had to reinstall my WinXP Pro SP3 system, on which I previously had the STB firewire drivers installed and operating perfectly... in support of my JVC DT100U D-VHS VCR. I've used CapDVHS many times to record DVHS tapes to hard drive, edit with VideoReDo, and convert to AVI using VirtualDub.

For some reason, after my fresh WinXP reinstall when I plugged in the firewire from the DT100U there was no "new hardware wizard" popup which would have allowed me to navigate to the latest FIRESTB.INF. Why not?

Instead, Windows seems to be doing something by itself, and eventually says "new hardware is installed and ready to use". The device that got installed was apparently "AV/C tape device".

Unfortunately this installed device doesn't support recording with CapDVHS. Obviously I need to get FIRESTB.INF installed, but can't make that happen. If I try "update driver" and navigate to the proper directory, when I give it the OK I'm told "no matching device".

So... what's going on? Or, how can I force the wizard manually?

I know this worked before now (but it was with SP2 and not SP3, if that's relevant).

Any ideas? Thanks.


P.S. - In Device Manager, sound, video and game controllers, "AV/C Tape Device", details show a device instance id of:

AVC\JVC&HM-DT100&TYP_4&ID_0\F100D00403888000

and in CapDVHS there are two capture devices shown:

Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device (JVC HM-DT100 #1)
Digital AV/C Tuner Device (Unknown Video #1)

I believe this is what's always been shown before this weekend's WinXP reinstall, and I've always selected the first item listed in order to do the recording. If I try the same thing now, there is a non-zero-byte recording made but it is useless (i.e. it cannot be played back). Also, during the recording there is nothing shown in the "Data info" tab.

Obviously I need to install FIRESTB.INF. Why am I not getting the "new hardware wizard", or how can I trigger it manually???


P.P.S. - one more note...

I decided to try my Panny PV-HD1000, to see what would happen. So I plugged in the firewire, and the very same thing happened: WinXP apparently had drivers for the device and did not trigger the "new hardware wizard" dialog. So once again (a) I could not navigate to install FIRESTB.INF, and (b) if I manually try to update the installed driver and navigate to the FIRESTB.INF directory I am again told that there is no driver that matches the device, just like with my JVC DT100U.

This time, the auto-install process created two devices:

(1) Panasonic Tape Device - AVC\VEN_E05C&MOD_0&TYP_4&ID_0\10505310825CE000
(2) Panasonic Vendor Unique Subunit - AVC\VEN_E05C&MOD_0&TYP_5&ID_0\10505310825CE000

And CapDVHS shows "Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device (Unknown Video #1)

The timmmoore and ExDeus packages are specifically designed for use with a cable STB and not a real DVHS deck, meaning all the tape info has been removed from the INF. You might try using the old meidvhs.zip package since it still had tape stuff in the INF, not just the tuner/panel info as in the newer packages. Should be easy enough to find by googling meidvhs.zip.

Thanks for the suggestion. No problem finding the old meidvhs.zip package.

However it doesn't seem to be of any use. The same symptom occurs as before when trying to "update driver" for the already installed AV/C devices (be they JVC or Panasonic), namely "the specified location does not contain information about your hardware".

In other words, whether using the new FIRESTB.INF driver files, or MEIDVHS.ZIP and its drivers, whatever device has been auto-installed by WinXP SP3 (e.g. AV/C Tape Device for the JVD DT100U) is apparently not the device these firewire/DVHS drivers are written for.

And there's still the mystery about why this is happening at all... i.e. why is there no "new hardware detected" wizard popup when I plugged in the firewire for the first time? Why was there already some pre-installed device driver that was suitable for both my JVC and Panny DVHS machines? I don't recall this is what happened last year when I went through this same process. I'm quite sure my experience then was just as was described in the documentation, namely that the "new hardware detected" wizard popped up.

I'm now wondering if my problem is that I have Pinnacle Studio Ultimate 12.1 installed, which has support for accepting input from firewire devices. Now the driver for the "AV/C Tape Device" shows as from Microsoft dated 2001 and not from Pinnacle, but I'm still a bit suspicious.

I'd hate to start over and reinstall WinXP again (since the whole process, including reinstall of all of my application software products, takes me about 3 days to complete) doing this step early on this time instead of at the end, hoping that it will make a difference (if done before Pinnacle is installed). But somehow I've got to get this working again and I can't imagine what else might be suppressing the "new hardware found" wizard (other than the fact that last year I kept a base SP2 level whereas this past weekend I decided to go with SP3).

Even if I uninstall the Windows-installed drivers for these devices, hoping to trigger the "new hardware detected" wizard when I next plug in the firewire, it simply repeats what it did originally... finding some pre-installed driver suitably acceptable and finishing the job without allowing me to navigate to a driver disk. Again, it finishes with "new hardware installed and ready for use", and I never got to point to the correct driver location.

[I feel another WinXP reinstall approaching..., doing this firewire/CapDVHS stuff very early on this time.]

Are you sure you aren't trying to capture something with copy protection? Usually if the drivers are bad, CapDVHS will throw some sort of error, while if the stream is copy-protected, it'll just record a garbage file and not show anything on the data info tab.

Also, with the MEIDVHS package, you normally have to manually install the device, i.e. on the first page of the driver wizard, select "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)", and then on the second page select "Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install."

Are you sure you aren't trying to capture something with copy protection? Usually if the drivers are bad, CapDVHS will throw some sort of error, while if the stream is copy-protected, it'll just record a garbage file and not show anything on the data info tab.It's not that. It's not complaining, and it's not abending.

First, I was tuned to NBC-DT (on the DT100U's ATSC tuner) and the so-called recording was useless. Then I played back a DVHS tape recording of CBS-DT and again the so-called recording was useless.

All non-protected content.

The problem is clearly that the FIRESTB.INF driver, which I had installed successfully before this past weekend, is not currently installed. And that's obviously because I did not get a "new hardware detected" wizard asking for a vendor's driver disk (or navigate to a folder with "have disk").



Also, with the MEIDVHS package, you normally have to manually install the device, i.e. on the first page of the driver wizard, select "Install from a list or specific location (Advanced)", and then on the second page select "Don't Search. I will choose the driver to install."Yes, all of my driver install/update actions are always using this approach.

But once I get to the target folder and let it continue, the message about "no driver that matches your hardware" occurs. It's like trying to do an update to a printer driver and navigating to the folder in which you have a modem driver stored... you can't do that.

I'm now resigned to starting over with a new reinstall, focusing on this particular driver issue early on... even before I do Windows Update to SP3 and beyond, and certainly before installing any application software which might even potentially involve support for firewire devices (e.g. Pinnacle Studio).

I'm now resigned to starting over with a new reinstall, focusing on this particular driver issue early on... even before I do Windows Update to SP3 and beyond, and certainly before installing any application software which might even potentially involve support for firewire devices (e.g. Pinnacle Studio).Ok, I have performed the first phase of a full reinstall. At a very early point I plugged in my JVC DT100U.

Sure enough, it did start cranking the "new hardware" popups and then opened the "new hardware found" wizard dialog. It even named the JVC box. This is good.

I then navigated to my FIRESTB.INF folder and all of these drivers were seemingly installed acceptably. No complaint about no driver matching my hardware. And it did look like all of the SYS files in that folder were picked up by the installation.

When it was all done, and the device was "installed successfully and ready for use" Device Manager showed just the one "AV/C Tuner Device", but I guess that's right.

CapDVHS showed to capture devices, the first of which was the JVC DT100U, which I selected.

However when I pushed the REC button on CapDVHS there still was no information about the stream shown in the "data" tab. And once again, the recorded TS file could not be opened by any player.

If I try to "update driver" on the AV/C device, pointing to the very same directory from which the drivers were installed in the first place, now I once again get "no driver compatible with your hardware".

I'm now very puzzled and confused.

These are the very identical steps I went through on several past WinXP installs, without ever having any driver problems like this when I was done. CapDVHS has always worked fine with the result and recorded successfully.

I've once again started the WinXP reinstall from scratch. I have not tried MEIDVHS yet, but I will give it a try instead of FIRESTB.INF (although I never did that before).

Very very strange.

I've once again started the WinXP reinstall from scratch. I have not tried MEIDVHS yet, but I will give it a try instead of FIRESTB.INF (although I never did that before).Still no luck. Exactly the same results with MEIDVHS as when I try FIRESTB.

Seems like everything went just fine, hardware ready to use. New hardware wizard pops up, I navigate to the MEIDVHS folder and OK, and driver installation seems to go perfectly.

The result is a "AV/C Tape Device" in Device Manager. It is shown in CapDVHS capture device as "Microsoft AV/C Tape Subunit Device (JVC HM-DT100 #1)".

But the file written by CapDVHS won't open in VideoReDo.

And there is still nothing shown in the "data" tab of CapDVHS when recording, which is definitely wrong. It should show the 1920x1080i info, etc. but there's nothing.

And if I try to "update driver" on the installed device after that first successful install, even using the same driver folder I used originally, I get "no compatible software for your hardware".

Need sleep.

But the file written by CapDVHS won't open in VideoReDo.

And there is still nothing shown in the "data" tab of CapDVHS when recording, which is definitely wrong. It should show the 1920x1080i info, etc. but there's nothing.

Need sleep.Sleep helps (apparently for me, as well as for my computer).

Decided to be sure I was not being caught by something else I was not just not taking into account. Since my latest (and only) test with the latest WinXP reinstall was with my DT100U I wanted to see if I would have any different results with my Panny PV-HD1000 the first time I tried it.

Since I'd received the "new hardware" wizard popup when I first plugged in the DT100U (which was done before my Pinnacle Studio install, and hence there should be no firewire driver of any kind on the system... hence why the popup did occur) I was curious as to whether or not I'd get the wizard the first time the Panny VCR was plugged in. Probably not, but something different should happen.

And yes, it did go through automatic new hardware motions and installed the PV-HD1000 successfully but no wizard popup occurred. But the devices installed into Device Manager definitely reflected the Panny device and not the JVC device.

Then I tried to do a recording with CapDVHS and was ABSOLUTELY STUNNED to see 1920x1080 detail information in the "data" tab! WTF???? I then played back the short recording with VideoReDo and sure enough the recording was usable! WTF???

Just to be sure I wasn't crazy I disconnected the firewire and reconnected it my DT100U. I also took the very tape that had just worked in the Panny and put it in the DT100U (after first removing the tape I'd previously had in the DT100U which had been unrecordable). And then I tried to do a CapDVHS recording from the DT100U.

And, again remarkably, I had data in the CapDVHS data tab! And once again the recording was playable with VideoReDo! Hmmm... tape related? Could that be?

Then I took the tape I'd removed from the DT100U (that had failed to record), put it in the Panny, and put the firewire back in the Panny. I then tried a CapDVHS recording from the Panny and it failed too (i.e. no data displayed, recording will not play in VideoReDo). HUH?? Problem follows the tape?

I then took out that tape and looked at it. Turns out it was a relatively recent DVHS archive recording off of my DVR, from the SAG Awards show that had aired on TNT-HD. I am now guessing that TNT-HD is 5C-protected by TWC. I obviously was able to archive from DVR to DVHS. And I can play that recording on the DT100U through HDMI to an HDCP-compatible LCD display. But I cannot record it with CapDVHS from the DT100U (which is a 5C-compliant VCR and this would be a 2nd-generation copy).

In contrast, the tape that was copyable from both VCRs was one made back in 2001, on the PV-HD1000 itself, from an OTA ABC broadcast. So there was no 5C-protection on this recording.

Actually I didn't know the PV-HD1000 standalone was 5C-compliant, but apparently it must be since it refused to provide the SAG recording data out through firewire. Live and learn.


Anyway, it does appear that all this time my problem was primarily trying to play/record an unusable (i.e. 5C-protected) DVHS tape. I can play it back with no problem from VCR to display, but I cannot record it from VCR to CapDVHS (and both DT100U and PV-HD1000 seem to honor the 5C-protection... which I didn't know was on TNT-HD).

So once I finally got the "new hardware" wizard to pop up after the WinXP reinstall so that I could finally navigate to the FIRESTB/MEIDVHS driver directory (which appears to be the only time I can point to these drivers and get them to install successfully, as "update driver" always claims incompatible software/hardware), I'm guessing that either FIRESTB.INF or MEIDVHS would actually work.

As it turns out I'm currently using MEIDVHS and it seems to work fine, but up until yesterday I'd always used FIRESTB (again, installed at the "new hardware" wizard opportunity and never again after that) and that worked with CapDVHS just as well. I'm now sure that either driver package would work fine, as long as it can be installed at a "new hardware" wizard popup.


==> Case closed. Sleep helps. It all works fine (before and now), from both DT100U and PV-HD1000, as long as what's being played on the VCR is not 5C-protected.

But then I knew that.

Need sleep.

Are you sure you aren't trying to capture something with copy protection? Usually if the drivers are bad, CapDVHS will throw some sort of error, while if the stream is copy-protected, it'll just record a garbage file and not show anything on the data info tab.
:p:D:cool:

:p:D:cool:I know, I know..., my mind discarded what you were saying because I thought both of the tapes I was playing back were both copy-always. I didn't know the TNT-HD recording was copy-once.

It really was my own fault. As it turns out I had a copy-once tape in the DT100U and a copy-always tape in the PV-HD1000. Anyway, it was actually quite a learning experience.

There's still the mystery as to why "update driver" cannot be used, so that there's really one and only one opportunity to install the drivers (when the "new hardware" wizard pops up, if there is no other firewire-type driver already installed on the system).

Oh well. Always fun.

Ok so in the past I had xp media center and a motorola dct6412 box things have changed now.

6412 box went bad and now have a motorola dct 3416 the driver package installs fine, but the mytray app where it would work within Media Center no longer works it will not recognize the tuner I am guessing only 6400 series is supported?

I would really like to have everything integrated into MCE instead of Capvhs.

Does anyone know how I can resolve this?

Tom

I hated VISTA before - but now that I've discovered I can't capture from my STB anymore (64-bit issue) I utterly despise it.

How Microsoft could craft an OS that is incompatible with so many older drivers makes me want to break things....


I long for the days of XP...

I hated VISTA before - but now that I've discovered I can't capture from my STB anymore (64-bit issue) I utterly despise it.

How Microsoft could craft an OS that is incompatible with so many older drivers makes me want to break things....


I long for the days of XP...

people want a more secure os somethings are not gonna work fact of computers
when apple went from os9 to osx broke dam near everything, why are you using 64 bit, I run 32 bit vista and capture just fine.

I hated VISTA before - but now that I've discovered I can't capture from my STB anymore (64-bit issue) I utterly despise it.

How Microsoft could craft an OS that is incompatible with so many older drivers makes me want to break things....


I long for the days of XP...

And why are you blaming microsoft. It was a driver from a 3rd party. Yell at them buddy not microsoft.

It is a hack of a driver from a third party. Everything done here is a completely unsupported configuration that was never intended to exist in the first place.

Hi,

I am running Vista, Installed the drivers for the SA 8300HD and followed all the steps outlined in this thread.

When I open CapDHVS i can see the device on the dropdown, in fact it is the only device..but when I click on REC I get an error: cannot open output file.

I did not change the output file name, in fact I did not change aanything, everything is default.

I have been searching for some time for a resolution with no success.

Anyone?

ExDeus, can you add the Motorola QIP 7100 to the INF? It's the new HD non-DVR box Verizon is giving out.
Tuner is AVC\MOTOROLA&QIP-7100&TYP_5, panel is AVC\MOTOROLA&QIP-7100&TYP_9.

Hi,

I am running Vista, Installed the drivers for the SA 8300HD and followed all the steps outlined in this thread.

When I open CapDHVS i can see the device on the dropdown, in fact it is the only device..but when I click on REC I get an error: cannot open output file.

I did not change the output file name, in fact I did not change aanything, everything is default.

I have been searching for some time for a resolution with no success.

Anyone?

Go to the settings tab and specify where you want your file saved to your hard drive.

I hated VISTA before - but now that I've discovered I can't capture from my STB anymore (64-bit issue) I utterly despise it.

How Microsoft could craft an OS that is incompatible with so many older drivers makes me want to break things....


I long for the days of XP...

Xp x64 doesn't work either.

Xp x64 doesn't work either.

Never will unless some uber hacker figures out how to port it to x64...

There is a lot of info in this thread but I am having a hard time extracting all the information I need to solve my problem.

Can someone comment on the related thread I started about reinstalling XP with DVHS support?
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1141974

I tried the work around and I do not get audio when trying to record data saved on the DVR. Some live programming does record with audio. I am trying to play back with VLC. Any help would be appreciated.

Has anyone here had any luck with modifiying the drivers for windows 7?

I have tracked down the error to 800705AA...basically it is the windows services pack 2 bug from xp but now in win 7. I tried to modify windows the same way but i get nowhere. The drivers install but caapdvhs wont capture...:\

I believe under windows 7 we are screwed! drivers "must" be digitally signed
and drivers for capdvhs are so old windows 7 will not allow you to use them
when gone is vista and xp no more firewire capture for us me believe

The drivers, capdvhs, and everything else has been working flawlessly on my Win7 box for some time now. No driver signing issues or anything. Just comes up with a warning and asks me if I really do want to continue installing them.

If you are running the 64 bit version though, it's going to be just the same as Vista and XP because there are no 64 bit versions of this driver.

Hello,

I'm really hoping someone can help me with this. I have a Motorola DCH6416 (through Charter) and have been using firewire/CapDVHS to record things for the past several months.

Sometime last Thursday or Friday, my machine (XP, SP2) completely stopped recognizing the DVR. The device no longer shows up in CapDVHS, and Windows isn't showing that New Hardware Found/Recording Device Found pop-up whenever I connect the firewire cable.

I'm not sure if a firmware update was sent to the box or not... right now it's showing a version of 18.46 and the firewire is showing as "Enabled: Yes / Active: No".

I have also noticed that if I unplug/replug the DVR while the firewire is connected, it will show a "Please re-insert CableCARD" message on my tv screen, and will refuse to turn on until I disconnect the firewire cable.

I would greatly appreciate any ideas as to what the problem may be.

Thanks

I'm going to try work on the 64-bit driver, I'm looking for info on the 32-bit source. I started a new thread here:

avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1145429

You are going to have a REAL hard time finding source code for the drivers since it is based on an old Panasonic DVHS tape deck driver that has been LONG unsupported and is completely closed source. And I can't really think of any other opportunities to find a working driver for this that has source code available.

For 64 bit you are pretty much stuck with linux or OSX. OSX has really good support it seems and linux, by it's nature, should be wide open source-wise and already have 64 bit support.

Ah ok. I'm not really that worried about the old source.

Linux treats it as a firewire block device and the code is as you say open source so I'm sure I can use that as a starting point.

I've got the new windows 7 SP1 driver kit (WDK). Also I'm totally shocked that the original driver for windows MCE is all piggy backed on top of the analogue tuner, AND further that no one has made a proper MCE component.

There is a pretty complete SDK to work with MCE and there's also a new framework for dealing with video content in MCE specifically to support streaming video sources: Protected Broadcast Driver Architecture.

PBDA is the new Microsoft worldwide platform for broadcast TV on the PC. Made possible by the recent release of Windows Media Center TV Pack, the platform for the first time enables the PC-TV hardware ecosystem to integrate virtually any free or premium TV service into Windows Media Center, while satisfying the TV industry's requirements for strong content protection in the case of pay TV.

The PBDA platform enhances and supersedes the existing Broadcast Driver Architecture (BDA), which has been the Microsoft standard for digital video capture on Windows-based operating systems for many years.. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and tuner-makers are no longer required to output broadcast services on a vendor-specific basis, but can develop and ship TV tuners for Windows Media Center to target a broad set of TV standards and markets.

This information applies for the following operating systems:
Windows 7
Windows Vista SP1 with Windows Media Center TV Pack 2008


Anyway, it looks like I'm gonna have to re-invent the wheel here, but I feel like there's definitely enough information about controlling the device via firewire, and the device is known seen by windows already, so a lot of the puzzle is already there.

On top of that I think I don't think the driver code is that large, and I expect at worst, we can probably learn a bit form using a disassembler and looking at the assembly of the working driver.

This can be done, and I'm stubborn enough to do it!

Further, let me point out, even if I fail, this enables motorola to reach the PC market if they want and to do so WITH security (possibly proper 5c protection), because the new windows framework should be secure enough for them to do so.

Further, let me point out, even if I fail, this enables motorola to reach the PC market if they want and to do so WITH security (possibly proper 5c protection), because the new windows framework should be secure enough for them to do so.

Highly doubtful since 5C encryption relies on the hardware endpoints, ie: The firewire card you are using with your machine. No firewire card manufacturer has made a 5C compliant card nor I expect them to be enticed to considering the miniscule market for such a thing topped with the reliance on making sure the software and OS side complies.

You're basically talking the whole Cablecard/MCE mess redux except there's a MUCH smaller demand for such a product.

Not trying to douse your hopes here, but just warning that you might be biting off more than you can chew if you are expecting too much. At the end of the day, Hauppage's component capture device comes out with comparable quality, doesn't give two sh*ts for channel copy protection, is box agnostic, and overall much less hassle.

yep I think you're right.

I just meant that it's possible for them to make a secure device, it doesn't have to be the 5c protection.

And yep I'll probably buy an HD DVR anyway, but I think I can still get 64-bit support rolling.

`John

Also I'm totally shocked that the original driver for windows MCE is all piggy backed on top of the analogue tuner
That's because older versions of MCE required an analog tuner to be present, even to use ATSC/clear QAM...

If you get the 64 bit driver rebuilt, does that mean you could also compile it fairly easily to 32 bit? It would be great to finally have an updated, open source driver that lives and breathes, instead of a decade old, buggy, closed source, flat liner.

Yep.

I'm using the Win7 WDK, so it'll support:

XP (with some service pack, I don't have the docs in front of me)
Vista
Windows 7
32 and 64 bit versions.

Windows 2000 is somewhat no longer supported by microsoft, but there is a chance the driver will still work. So far this is not a concern for me. If you want win2000 you can use firestb, and if you want win2000 64-bit, then you're SOL, upgrade to something newer.

As this thread is already a monster, if you're interested show your support in this thread:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1145429

I'll post updates there.

I'm curious if anyone has attempted to use any of the new Samsung boxes yet with tweaked inf files and know how well they cooperate compared to the Motorola or SA boxes? We have the SMT-H3090 non-DVR here and I've been highly tempted to get one for my bedroom especially if it fares better than my 8240HDC now.

I have read thru several forums, sifted out some sensible information along with some convoluted information, I have the following questions:

I have the Motorola DCH 3416 DVR thru Comcast. Im using Windows XP Pro. I successfully installed the “stb_firewire_drivers_2009-02-25” Drivers per instructions, I have installed VLC for play back, and I have the CapDVHS.

Now when I plug in the cable box via firewire, the device shows up just fine. What I haven’t found yet online are some simple instructions as to what to do next if my goal is to transfer recorded video off of the cable DVR to my PC to convert them so I can put some stuff on a DVD. I am by no means an A/V guy, but I do build computers, A/V is just something I really don’t have much knowledge of. I mean, I don’t see anything in the Windows Explorer when I have the cable box connected. So what do I do Step by Step to get to this video?

I actually hooked up the HDMI cable to my monitor and was able to get to a screen for the cable box, but when I clicked on the “My DVR” on the remote, I got a message that the DVR was now disabled. I did NOT have the coax cable hooked up to the box at the time because I simply unplugged the cable box from a TV it was attached to and moved it to my PC to connect it up. So do I have to have the coax hooked up as well to work this?

I have searched and found some info on this matter that I could decipher, but not all of it is in laymen’s terms. Can someone please direct me to a novice direction? Thanks

You might be able to get content from the DVR by playing it back and using CapDVHS to record it, but some of the recent software updates Comcast pushed out tend to break it. You can't just copy the content over like an external hard drive, that would be too easy.

I did NOT have the coax cable hooked up to the box at the time because I simply unplugged the cable box from a TV it was attached to and moved it to my PC to connect it up. So do I have to have the coax hooked up as well to work this?

I have searched and found some info on this matter that I could decipher, but not all of it is in laymen’s terms. Can someone please direct me to a novice direction? Thanks

The driver is only meant to stream the content you're viewing. Not copy from the DVR. Maybe it could be done but no one has written a driver to do that yet.

I'm writing a better driver right now so that the devices can be used in 64-bit windows, but also eventually to make the device work as a tuner instead of just a streaming device. Right now it works just like a webcam. fireSTB also hacks your MCE to piggyback on the record events from analogue devices.

They probably have the guide software on the box programmed to allow DVR functionality to be provisioned on a by-account basis, so yes you would need to have it hooked up to the cable line to authenticate itself. I'm surprised it even managed to boot without it hooked up as most pull down the software from the headend on each boot not to mention other provisioning issues.

I do understand that I cant just copy it over to my PC, I was trying to find out 1st off what all needs to be connected up from the Cable DVR to the PC. Obviously (at least I think) firewire alone will not allow me to do all. I have to view the cable box menus etc. So I will assume for the moment I need the firewire connected, the HDMI to view the cable box menus, and cable service via the coax cable to enable the DVR. So what do I do to play the video from the cable box and while its “streaming” capture it?

To answer Vchat 20, what guide box software do I have? That term alone is foreign to me, but based on the link you provided, the very top picture is the same menu system I see on my cable box “Comcast iGuide for Motorola hardware”. I assume that answers your question?

I do understand that I cant just copy it over to my PC, I was trying to find out 1st off what all needs to be connected up from the Cable DVR to the PC. Obviously (at least I think) firewire alone will not allow me to do all. I have to view the cable box menus etc. So I will assume for the moment I need the firewire connected, the HDMI to view the cable box menus, and cable service via the coax cable to enable the DVR. So what do I do to play the video from the cable box and while its “streaming” capture it?

Firewire will output ATSC compliant video and audio from the cable box to your PC, up to and including HDTV and DD5.1. The Firewire output will be the channel you are watching. (In some cases the DVR program being played back can be recorded, depending on the version of software the box is running.)

Firewire will not pass any of the on screen display, menu, guide info, or any other graphics the cable box creates.

The cable box will simultaneously output video and audio, including all graphics, on all other outputs including HDMI, component video, S-Video, composite video, and RF. And yes, the cable must be connected to the box for it to be functional.

See the first post in this topic for more info on how to capture the Firewire output to your PC.

Ok, so for starters, the firewire cable will carry the audio/video to the PC, but I wont see anything playing or any menus.

I need to see the menu in order to navigate to recorded stuff on my box (my DVR) so I will hook up the HDMI cable to see the cable box menu so I can navigate to the “My DVR” select it, and play my selection.

I need to connect up the coax cable to be able to enable my menus and DVR.

OK , so far, I got that part. Thanks,

I will try and decipher the initial post here, I know there was mention that it was not intended to capture pre recorded stuff, so I have to sift through that and find the section that explains actual capturing of pre recorded stuff. Thanks for the help,,, I have a feeling I will be back though??? Hopefully, its to report that I was successful :}

The first post is actually quite outdated and only about half the stuff is relevant these days.

I dunno about anyone else, but I have found that these days that it's more a case of pre-recorded content you can transfer over as you play it off the DVR but live content is sketchy. But don't quote me on this. People still seem to be successfully using it as a live media center tuner.

There is no one single program to do the job. There are a number of them to choose from. CapDVHS is of course included in the driver package here. VLC can also be used. Those are the two off the top of my head.

yeah, thats one of my impressions of the 1st post, I mean no disrespect to his efforts, I have been looking for something more up to date and specific to my needs. I am just struggling a bit absorbing these things as I said, im not an A/V guy, thats why I appreciate the help.

I have been struggling to get my DVHS deck (JVC 40k) to work again for quite a while. I tried XP, Vista 64-bit and Windows 7 32-bit. All of them claim to install a driver and I can see the deck.

CapDVHS never seems to stream anything from tape back to the PC. Can I use VLC to stream data from the tape? I played around with it but it was not working for me. If someone can post up to date step by step instructions for Vista or Windows 7, I would really appreciate it.

If the content on the tape has the 5C Copy Once or Copy Never flags set, neither CapDVHS, VLC, or any other program are gonna do you any good.

I agree.

But the tape that failed is OTA content that has been copied before.

"5C Copy Once or Copy Never flags set" how is this determined?

The first post is actually quite outdated and only about half the stuff is relevant these days.

I dunno about anyone else, but I have found that these days that it's more a case of pre-recorded content you can transfer over as you play it off the DVR but live content is sketchy. But don't quote me on this. People still seem to be successfully using it as a live media center tuner.

There is no one single program to do the job. There are a number of them to choose from. CapDVHS is of course included in the driver package here. VLC can also be used. Those are the two off the top of my head.

There are a ton of variables - which STB you have, what level of firmware it has, what Comcast allows/doesn't allow in your area, which channels they've set the 5C flag on, whether you're recording live or off the DVR, is it an OTA channel or not.

And of course, one/some/all of these can change at any time and break the whole thing. :(

And I'm even throwing the PC/OS/application variables in there, either.

Oh,,, the madness,,,, this is getting out of my league!!!

Hopefully someone can help me. I'm trying to record some stations with capDVHS. I'm using a firewire cable to connect to my Motorola 6200 cable box. And every time I open up CapDVHS I get a message about SampleGrabber is not registered.

Anyone have any suggestions what to do?

Ok, so for starters, the firewire cable will carry the audio/video to the PC, but I wont see anything playing or any menus.

I need to see the menu in order to navigate to recorded stuff on my box (my DVR) so I will hook up the HDMI cable to see the cable box menu so I can navigate to the “My DVR” select it, and play my selection.

I need to connect up the coax cable to be able to enable my menus and DVR.

OK , so far, I got that part. ThanksCorrect... firewire from 3416 to PC, in order to pass A/V data to be recorded.

HDMI from 3416 to a TV or any HDMI-capable HDCP-compatible display device (such as an HDMI input on a high-end LCD computer monitor), or alternatively component video, S-video, composite or even RF from 3416 to a TV. This is because no MyDVR output or other graphics or menus from the 3416 will be presented out the firewire connection, but only out of these other connections.

And you must have the cable coax (from the wall) connected to the 3416 because it won't work without it.


"5C Copy Once or Copy Never flags set" how is this determined?If you can record it on your 3416, then it must either be (a) "copy once" or (b) "copy always". The only thing coming through your 3416 which is "copy never" is pay-per-view, and you can't even record that to DVR.

"Copy once" is typically premium channel stuff, like HBOHD, etc. This kind of content you could actually offload from DVR to a DVHS tape (as the first generation copy, hence "copy once" since the DVR recording doesn't count). But you would not be able to copy that first generation DVHS tape copy to a second generation DVHS tape copy (assuming you had two DVHS VCRs to try this with). Some non-premium channels also have their "copy once" flags turned on.

"Copy always" is typically OTA local network stuff, as well as most basic cable channels (e.g. HDNet). No limits on the number of subsequent generation DVHS copies (of first generation DVHS offloads from DVR) you can make.

You will not be able to make a PC copy of a "copy once" program, either directly from the 3416 or from a DVHS first generation tape offload. The 3416 (and a 5C-compliant DVHS VCR such as those from JVC) will simply not deliver data over firewire to a device which is not also 5C-compliant (as the DVHS VCR is), in order to uphold the laws of copy once/always/never. In contrast, your PC firewire connection is not 5C-compliant, so it will never be given copy once/never data by a 5C-compliant source such as your 3416 or a DVHS VCR.

Similarly, you will not be able to make a PC copy of a "copy never" program such as pay-per-view, which you can't even record on your DVR nor can you deliver "live" to the PC via firewire. Again, "copy never" means zero copies anywhere.

So, the only thing you'll be able to record to PC is "copy always" which has no 5C restrictions or limitations. Unlimited firewire transfers from DVR to DVHS/PC, and then on to an unlimited number DVHS/PC further transfers, etc.

You are going to have a REAL hard time finding source code for the drivers since it is based on an old Panasonic DVHS tape deck driver that has been LONG unsupported and is completely closed source. And I can't really think of any other opportunities to find a working driver for this that has source code available.

For 64 bit you are pretty much stuck with linux or OSX. OSX has really good support it seems and linux, by it's nature, should be wide open source-wise and already have 64 bit support.

Did someone say Linux, see this thread HowTO record via 1394/Firewire with LINUX (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1147132).

I have been recording from STB via firewire using VLC with some success. One big problem I have encountered is that every couple of days or so VLC would just hang part of the way into the recording. Sometimes the VLC process could be killed in the manager, but other times it would refuse to be killed. By killing VLC (if it could be killed), sometimes I would be able to record again, but other times I had to reboot Windows. I had no problem changing channels, though.

I suspect the driver code to stream from the tuner is hung (but the code to control the panel seems to be unaffected). So the question I have: Is there a more graceful way to reset the firewire connection without rebooting?

Hopefully someone can help me. I'm trying to record some stations with capDVHS. I'm using a firewire cable to connect to my Motorola 6200 cable box. And every time I open up CapDVHS I get a message about SampleGrabber is not registered.

Anyone have any suggestions what to do?
Still getting this message, but now at least I can playback video through VLC.

I much prefer using VLC to record as it will stop when the recording stops. And you can test real time view before recording. I can only use the .8 versions though. The .9 versions do not work with raw dump mode.

Older versions can be found here...
http://download.videolan.org/pub/videolan/vlc/

Im good so far, I have my Motorola DCH 3416 hooked up to my PC via fire wire, HDMI to my primary monitor, Coax cable connected to cable box. Im able to playback my recorded video to my primary monitor. I have VLC showing on my 2nd monitor, I have been looking online for a basic tutorial on how to use VLC .9 to capture what Im seeing, so far, the Help me files have been extensive and comprehensive for a non AV guy. As an example, when I go into the Capture Device tab in VLC, and choose Video Device Name, I have 2 options:
Motorola AV/C Panel Device and Motorola AV/C Tuner Device, Im not even sure which one of these to select?

Can anyone direct me to a fundamental tutorial of some sort? I have many hours into this already, and Im getting frustrated because I simply don’t know how to use this software for this particular application. Id hate to give up now,,,, thanks,,, and sorry for the burden

"Tuner Device"

I use capvhs, and this is the guide I follow to get it working
http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/

Im good so far, I have my Motorola DCH 3416 hooked up to my PC via fire wire, HDMI to my primary monitor, Coax cable connected to cable box. Im able to playback my recorded video to my primary monitor. I have VLC showing on my 2nd monitor, I have been looking online for a basic tutorial on how to use VLC .9 to capture what Im seeing, so far, the Help me files have been extensive and comprehensive for a non AV guy. As an example, when I go into the Capture Device tab in VLC, and choose Video Device Name, I have 2 options:
Motorola AV/C Panel Device and Motorola AV/C Tuner Device, Im not even sure which one of these to select?

Can anyone direct me to a fundamental tutorial of some sort? I have many hours into this already, and Im getting frustrated because I simply don’t know how to use this software for this particular application. Id hate to give up now,,,, thanks,,, and sorry for the burden

Thanks, but following the instructions, I get to the point where I get this error as described:

“NOTE: If you are running WindowsXP SP2 and persistently get the following error when clicking Rec to start a capture:
Error 800705AA: Cannot start capture
You need to install this Windows XP SP2 1394/firewire patch.”

I go to download the patch, but since im running service pack 3, it tells me I don’t need this patch.

Have you tried any other attempts since having the firewire cable plugged in since then that have failed? I know on my system if I get failed attempts in CapDVHS I will forever get that error unless I unplug and replug the cable. VLC, though, does not do this.

For the record, VLC should be dead easy:
Select the AV/C Tuner device as the video capture device and 'None' for audio, click the 'Stream' button (on the latest versions it is under a drop-down arrow next to the play button), check the 'File' output checkbox and select a save location followed by checking 'Dump raw input' and then the 'stream' button to get it going.

Or if you just want to play back the video as it is coming through, back up to where you select the tuner device and just hit play instead of stream. Keep in mind you cannot capture and play at the same time (or at least I have never found a way. Dunno if it'll tolerate two VLC instances on the same tuner at once or not.)

Optional: Once saving the stream, set the process priority to realtime to keep any system fluctuations from having the possibility to muck up the recording. The CPU usage during this time even on 1080i material should be minimal anyway (I get like 1-2% tops from VLC on a 1.6ghz Celeron M with Windows 7 with it set to realtime priority).