The poor (Mac) man's TiVoToGo arrives: TiVoDecode Manager

Well that didn't take long. Just four days after TiVo's DRM was hacked, and three days after we pointed you to the Zatz man's little exploitation guide, along comes the GUI wrapper that automates the process of downloading and decoding TiVo files onto your TiVoToGo-less Mac. TiVoDecode Manager v1.0 features automatic Bonjour discovery of local TiVos and the ability to one-click download any available recording listed by the date recorded, episode, etc. At the moment, only one recording can be downloaded at a time. Once on your Mac's disk, the decoded files still won't play in Apple's Quicktime player, but hey, that's why the Good Lord gave us VLC. As a front-end to software written by someone else, you'd be wise to heed the words of the developer: "use at your own risk." However, as tipster Brandon points out, he's "one happy geek" after giving it a whirl. Now quit hopping up and down clapping like little girls, there's decoding to be done.

[Thanks, Brandon H.]

[todd @ Dec 8th 2006 8:55AM]

You have to wonder why Tivo has dragged their feet forever on this. I'm wondering if it has anything to do with the possibility of Tivo lending some sort of Tivo capabilities to the iTV. I'm sure this has been in the works for a long time so maybe it was good ol' Stevie that stopped Tivo from developing for the Mac?

[j annis @ Dec 8th 2006 8:47AM]

Can anybody advise how to download and run this program. I need step by step. Thanks

[warlock7 @ Dec 8th 2006 8:55AM]

Funny, I just downloaded 1.1 of this software.
Get it from MacUpdate here:
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/23433

[caldrich @ Dec 8th 2006 8:56AM]

Works fine for me after downloading, only bug so far seems to be that TDM is not reading the dates properly from my tivo. I can live with that.

[Thomas Ricker @ Dec 8th 2006 9:00AM]

Warlock7, thanks. Pointing post to Macupdate now.

Thomas

[caldrich @ Dec 8th 2006 9:06AM]

Thomas, if I'm not mistaken you're now pointing to a different application. The one on macupdate is just an applescript droplet to automate the conversion process, it does not have the front end to pull files off the tivo.

[andy @ Dec 8th 2006 9:30AM]

So is anyone using this with a S3?

[Brandon @ Dec 8th 2006 5:57PM]

I have a series 3 and it doesn't want to connect. Then again I'm using a PowerbookG4 so it might be that.

[Dhalver Xeno @ Dec 8th 2006 9:38AM]

Where is the link to "TiVoDecode Manager"? This links to "TiVo Decoder"...

[GDUB @ Dec 8th 2006 9:41AM]

Ok this is so easy to use. if u have a tivo and u want to watch shows say on your treo or ipod this is the best tool ever.

thanks engadget

[David Benesch @ Dec 8th 2006 10:57AM]

There are two separate applications: TiVoDecoder and TiVoDecode Manager. TiVoDecoder (http://inik.net/node/97) is a great drag-and-drop app to take already-downloaded TiVo files and make them MPEG-2. TiVoDecode Manager (http://www.thebenesch.com/tdm) goes one step further and connects to your TiVo, lists your shows, and then downloads and decrypts them. The date formatting is a known issue. Planned enhancements include queue processing and transcoding. I hope you all enjoy!

Yes... I admit this is shameless self-promotion, but I really think it's a nifty tool.

[Thomas Ricker @ Dec 8th 2006 9:47AM]

Link restored, Warlock7's suggestion was bogus. Sorry 'bout the goose chase. Also available here: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/31429

Thomas

[Simon Stearns @ Dec 8th 2006 10:16AM]

I hope that's not someone's REAL MAK in that screen shot...

mr.s

[David Benesch @ Dec 8th 2006 3:16PM]

The MAK key in the screenshot is a random string of numbers that I typed in before the screenshot was taken. It is *not* my real key.

[jps @ Dec 8th 2006 10:29AM]

ahh thank you for posting this.. it works great!!

[jh @ Dec 8th 2006 10:35AM]

I've tried the TivoDecode Manager and the automater workflow and binary available at http://www.geocities.com/kyoutekia/ and I am getting the same bizarre result - playable in VLC, but the image is entirely green and pink, with vertical interlacing, yet the sound is perfectly fine. The Colbert Report is kind of scary when viewed this way...

[b00da @ Dec 8th 2006 11:35AM]

$100 to the first person that figures out how to do this with a Motorola 6412 dual-tuner DVR cable box.

And I don't mean the Replay stuff at sourceforge...that only allows recording the currently playing show to the Mac. I want to be able to transfer the stuff stored on disk by the DVR to my Mac.

[The Jeremy @ Dec 8th 2006 12:05PM]

b00da,

There are software options already that will transfer programming from your Motorola DVR to your Mac (or PC) via the Firewire port.

Can some other users on here make the program recommendations?

[b00da @ Dec 8th 2006 4:23PM]

"There are software options already that will transfer programming from your Motorola DVR to your Mac (or PC) via the Firewire port."

As I said, I'm not interested in capturing live programming to my Mac via the Motorola DVR. I'm familiar with all of those software options (or nearly all...I'm pretty freaking good at Google searches but I guess its possible I missed a few).

I want to set the DVR to record programs when I am not home. They will then be on the DVR's disk. At that point, I want to hook my Mac up, and copy the files. I don't want to have to replay the shows in real time and do a capture...I want to copy them from one drive to another (my Mac).

[CMA @ Dec 8th 2006 5:02PM]

I'm having problems getting it to display ALL of the shows in my NOW PLAYING list. It seems to only want to list shows past a particular date.

[CMA @ Dec 8th 2006 5:16PM]

I think the limitation is on the NUMBER of shows starting with the most recent. (seems to have a limit of 125 maybe?)

[David Benesch @ Dec 9th 2006 7:38PM]

The 128 file limit has been fixed in version 1.1.1 and above. Version 1.1.2 is now available.

[warlock7 @ Dec 8th 2006 11:29PM]

Anybody figure out how to get this to work with a Series 1 DirecTiVo? Please let me know.

[John N. @ Dec 9th 2006 12:55AM]

I get an error that says unexpected end of file when I try to connect to my TiVo with this program. I'm certain I have the correct Media Access Key and IP address for my TiVo, any suggestions?

[ciscoguerrero @ Dec 10th 2006 2:27PM]

I get an applescript error : curl: option digest is unknown. It doesn't connect. Any ideas?

[gordonb @ Dec 10th 2006 2:05AM]

For those interested, I used this last night on my iMac Core 2 Duo. The file came over as Quicktime, and plays just fine in Quicktime with the mpeg2 upgrade.
Awesome app, my hardy congratulations to all those responsible!!

[gordonb @ Dec 10th 2006 11:42PM]

Sorry...I watched for a little longer, and it turns out that the video stops after a few minutes into playing. The audio continues, but the video stops. Tried it on 3 different downloads. Quicktime with mpeg2 has trouble playing the video.
But VLC worked just fine, so still an awesome app.

[QmanChoo @ Dec 10th 2006 2:34AM]

Works great with my Macbook Pro and VLC Player. Now it's time to convert to Mpeg4 for play on the go - what are you guys using - iSquint?

[Whiteshaft @ Dec 10th 2006 3:18PM]

The file it generates is a muxed MPEG-2 (aud + vid together) which Quicktime will not play; you get the first few frames and then just the audio. I was able to convert it to DV using Compressor, other apps like Streamclip still won't play it. Toast recognizes them so they should burn to DVD with that. I'd love to find a way to edit the files without converting them first.

[David James @ Dec 10th 2006 11:06AM]

anyone figure a way to convert it to something quicktime will play without having to buy that quicktime playback add on?