Is there a way for the Plex server to import/etc the TV shows that TiVo records, and allow me to watch it in the Plex ecosystem? If so, are there instructions somewhere on how to set this up? I haven’t seen anything, so I thought I would ask. 
If it were usable, I’m sure the development team would have included it.
It has always been of my personal understanding Tivo is a proprietary, closed, device. A long time ago (10+ years ago) they did allow media export but this ended when they became more subscription based.
Although, they still have this on the TiVo website:
Correct. You can do that yourself. Plex can’t use it as a pass-through tuner like the SiliconDust devices which are only tuners. PMS provides the DVR functionality. When using a Tivo, you’re using it instead of PMS to capture. Transfer into your library is then a manual step and not an automatic one.
Be advised, if Tivo has any DRM on the content, PMS won’t be able to play it.
Will it be able to determine info about the show? Such as a overview, name of the show, etc? Or would that have to be named in the common naming convention?
To obtain metadata, Plex’s naming conventions must always be used in order to be recognized (matched)
Once matched, PMS goes out to retrieve the metadata to display for you.
@144steve@gmail.com said:
Is there a way for the Plex server to import/etc the TV shows that TiVo records, and allow me to watch it in the Plex ecosystem? If so, are there instructions somewhere on how to set this up? I haven’t seen anything, so I thought I would ask.
Your best bet is to use kmttg (https://sourceforge.net/p/kmttg/wiki/Home/) to transfer your shows from the TiVo to your PC. You can set up “auto transfers” so the show gets transferred from the TiVo to your PC automatically on a scheduled basis. You just need to set a timeframe for how often you want kmttg to check the TiVo for shows to transfer. When you use auto transfer you can set it up so the shows transfer directly to a Plex library folder. This would probably be fine for most shows, but kids shows, where episode numbers are often wrong, it’s better to transfer to a staging folder. That way you can manually modify the episode number before moving it to the Plex library folder. I actually use a staging folder for everything and then use MCEBuddy to move the shows that don’t need manually editing over to Plex. One other advantage of MCEBuddy and kmttg, is that in theory, if you have a TiVo Bolt or Roamio, you can grap the commercial chapter marks and reliably cut out the commercials. I haven’t been able to test this as I have a TiVo Premiere that doesn’t support this feature, but I believe it works.
For MAC OS X users with Tivo boxes:
To be honest, it can be done but its a PITA and I no longer waste my time on lengthy tivo transfers. I’m on a Mac Mini and I use to use cTIVO. It’s MacOS ONLY. I stopped using it as I decided to stop using my tivo altogether and thankfully don’t pay the monthly fee anymore just for OTA recordings. You will need to retrieve your MAK - Media Access Key first from your tivo box because its needed for cTIVO to access the recordings on the tivo box. It’s best that you have your Tivo box connected via ethernet and not wifi because the recordings on the tivo can be VERY LARGE from 1GB to 5GB each depending on the length of the program and will cause congestion on your network. cTivo is great as it has many options including keeping the original .tivo file untouched but decrypt the file so it can be watched in VLC.
App Zip:
github.com/dscottbuch/cTiVo/releases/download/2.5.1/cTiVo-10.7.zip
Ok, I have kmttg set up on my computer, and it can see the TiVo. Now my issue is…when I try to start the job, it says the show is copy protected. I’m sure its something simply I’m missing, but what do I need to do to allow my shows to be unencrypted to I can convert them to the laptop?
It’s most likely an issue with the show that you’re trying to transfer being a “copy-once” show which means you can’t transfer it. But, you set your MAK key in Program Options right? Once the MAK key is set, you’ll need to also set the “decrypt” option on the main screen if you’re transferring manually. The decrypt option is also available in the auto transfers page. Decrypt just removes the TiVo encryption and saves it as an mpg or ts.
What station is the show on and who’s your provider? Some providers have a lot of stations set as copy-once, where as others don’t. I have Verizon so FX and Premium movie channels (HBO, Showtime, etc) are copy-once and I can’t transfer. Most of the others though I can transfer. I believe Time Warner has a lot more stations set as copy-once. You can see which shows are copy-once by their color. All the browns are copy-once and can’t be transferred. Hopefully you have a provider that doesn’t protect everything.
I use the Tivo To Go channel, works great. I can stream shows direct from the Tivo. I also have is setup to download the shows to a library called Tivo To Go.
I do have the MAK key entered, and the decrypt option is selected. I don’t have any of the TiVo software installed on that computer, not sure if that makes a difference or not.
I’m just trying to transfer shows from stations such as NBC, CBS, etc. They are coming from an antenna, not a cable provider.
Ok, that shouldn’t be happening. What’s the exact error message? Any screen shots? You might want to submit an issue on kmttg’s site. He’s really quick at getting back to people and can probably solve the problem without much trouble.
Here is the screenshot I have. I’m selecting the video at the top of the list, and saying ‘start’.
Ok, that is really strange. Looks like you’ve got every possible station listed there and every single one of them is copy protected. You should definitely post an issue at the kmttg site, but it almost seems like whoever owns those stations has inappropriately marked them as copy-once. Where are you located? You might need to contact the station owner and explain to them that they need to remove the copy-once flag. Not good, because it’s probably going to be difficult to find someone that actually knows what that means. But, while I’m not 100% certain, I’m pretty sure stations aren’t allowed to copy protect OTA broadcasts. It seems whoever the owner is in your case though is thinking no one will notice. That really stinks too, because most of those shows are marked with commercial skip so theoretically you could cut out the commercials fairly easily.
@“144steve@gmail.com”
I see you aren’t getting an answer from Kevin at KMTTG. Totally sucks that these shows are locked down, but from what I can tell from a little digging, it appears it may be illegal for tv stations to lock those down. I can’t find the final rule, but at least in the propose rule (https://w2.eff.org/IP/pnp/FCC_PnP_Ruling.pdf on page 30) it does state that unencrypted broadcast channels can’t have copy restrictions.
The only way to get past this might be to contact the stations and if that doesn’t work contact the FCC.
I was told by the TV station they’re not locking down the station, they told me its coming from CBS/etc itself.
@144steve@gmail.com said:
I was told by the TV station they’re not locking down the station, they told me its coming from CBS/etc itself.
Well, guess they aren’t going to make it easy. I reached out to Dave Zatz (of Zatznotfunny.com and long time TiVo evangelist) about the issue and if he’s seen it before. Here was his response, “Yeah most likely station sending incorrect metadata. Try pinging TiVoMargret on Twitter (https://twitter.com/tivodesign) to see if she can have someone facilitate a conversation with station.”
I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Margret can help you out. It would be nice if TV stations understood this issue, but sadly that’s not the case.
