Comments on: How to Set Up a TiVo Media Server on Ubuntu Linux

By: edsalisbury

edsalisbury — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 03:51:51 +0000

Awesome Chris! Glad my instructions helped.

By: Chris

Chris — Mon, 14 Jun 2010 01:04:11 +0000

Thanks for posting this. I just made an atom PC running Ubuntu my Tivo server.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:31:48 +0000

This has to be the very first step by step tutorial that I have followed that actually worked. Thank you so much

By: Will

Will — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 20:32:39 +0000

Hello,

This is what I get when I launch this command and goes no further.
NOTE: see config below

will@will-ubuntu910:~$ sudo python /usr/share/pyTivo/pyTivo.py
[sudo] password for will:
INFO:pyTivo.beacon:Announcing shares…
INFO:pyTivo.beacon:Registering: Music
INFO:pyTivo.beacon:Registering: MyMovies
INFO:pyTivo.beacon:Scanning for TiVos…
INFO:pyTivo:pyTivo is ready.
INFO:pyTivo:192.168.1.106 [20/Feb/2010 14:12:30] “GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0″ 200 -
INFO:pyTivo:192.168.1.104 [20/Feb/2010 14:12:30] “GET /TiVoConnect?Command=QueryContainer&Container=%2F HTTP/1.0″ 200 -

.
.
.
# This is an example config file, showing all the options. You probably
# won’t need most of them. Your working config file will be named
# “pyTivo.conf”. ‘#’ starts a comment. It is recommended that
# that you use the Web Administration tool to modify pyTivo.conf after
# you get pyTivo up and running. You can access the tool by pointing your
# browser to http://localhost:9032/

[Server]
port=9032

# Full path to ffmpeg including filename
# For windows: ffmpeg=c:\Program Files\pyTivo\bin\ffmpeg.exe
# For linux: ffmpeg=/usr/bin/ffmpeg
#ffmpeg=c:\Program Files\pyTivo\bin\ffmpeg.exe
ffmpeg=/usr/bin/ffmpeg

# Setting this to True will log more ouput for debugging purposes.
debug=True

# Max video bitrate, default 30000k
# sets ffmpeg -maxrate setting to minimize bitrate peak playback issues.
# mpegs with video bitrate above this setting will also be transcoded.
MAX_VIDEO_BR=17408k

# Audio bit-rate, defaults to 192K for S2, 384K for S3/HD
audio_br=320K

# Video bit-rate, defaults to 4096K for S2, 8192K for S3/HD
video_br=12Mi

# Beacon broadcast address(es)
# The default is 255.255.255.255, but on some multihomed machines you
# may need to specify the subnet broadcast address(es) of your Tivo
# boxes. You can also specify “listen” to listen for direct connection
# attempts on port 2190, for use with the “Manually add a server…”
# function. (And if you set beacon to listen _only_, it turns off
# broadcasts.)
beacon=192.168.1.255 listen

# Output Pixel Width:
# Width, defaults to 544 for S2, 1920 for S3/HD
# Height, defaults to 480 for S2, 1080 for S3/HD
# Valid widths: [S3/HD = 1920, 1440, 1280], [S2/S3/HD = 720, 704, 544, 480, 352]
# Valid heights: [S3/HD = 1080, 720], [S2/S3/HD = 480]
#width=1920
#height=1080
#ffmpeg_tmpl=%(video_codec)s %(video_fps)s %(video_br)s %(max_video_br)s %(buff_size)s %(aspect_ratio)s %(audio_br)s %(audio_fr)s %(audio_ch$

# Togo settings:
# Set this up if you wish to have TiVo ToGo support. This allows you to
# copy videos from your TiVo via a web page.
#
#
tivo_mak=9121978496
togo_path=/home/will/tivomovies

# Per tivo options
# section named _tivo_TSN with the tsn in all caps
#[_tivo_00000DEADBEEF]

# If you want to use 16:9 or 4:3 on this tivo
#aspect169=true

#width=1440
#height=720
#audio_br=320K
#video_br=12Mi
#ffmpeg_tmpl=%(video_codec)s %(video_fps)s %(video_br)s %(max_video_br)s %(buff_size)s %(aspect_ratio)s %(audio_br)s %(audio_fr)s %(audio_ch$

#[_tivo_HD]
# section for default video options applicable to all HD TiVos
# see pyTivo Web Configuration for all available settings

#[_tivo_SD]
# section for default video options applicable to all SD TiVos
# see pyTivo Web Configuration for all available settings

[MyMovies]
# Type can be ‘video’, ‘music’, or ‘photo’
type=video

# Path is the full path to your files (No trailing slash needed)
# For windows: path=c:\videos
path=/home/will/tivomovies
#path=/home/armooo/Videos

# You can have more than one share
#[MyTelevision]
type=video
path=/home/will/tivomovies

[Music]
type=music
path=/home/will/tivomovies/music

Thank you,
William

By: How to Copy Videos from a Series3 TiVo to Ubuntu Linux | EdSalisbury.net : Your Guide to User-Friendly Entertainment

Fri, 21 Aug 2009 06:02:28 +0000

[...] with the metadata about the program, which is in pyTivo format. For more info, see my guide on how to set up pyTivo as a media server for [...]

By: Chris Pugh

Chris Pugh — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:50:58 +0000

All of these scripts you've been posting are making me think about installing ubuntu on my of boxes. Good stuff! .-= Chris Pugh´s last blog ..Five Reasons Why You Should Be Using WordPress =-.

By: Beau

Beau — Sun, 17 May 2009 18:14:50 +0000

Ed
Thanks! These instructions were easy to follow (maybe even more so than on the project’s site).

I got it up and running with no problems (Music only) on an Ubuntu 8.10 machine this morning.

There are fewer and fewer reasons to use windows these days!

Beau

By: Ed

Ed — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:09:37 +0000

Hey Len, Thanks for the visit. If you’re still having trouble with this, let me know via email (edsfamily@gmail.com) and I can try to help you out. Scripts can reside anywhere. I usually keep them in my home directory, but they can be moved to /usr/local/bin or wherever you want really.

By: Len Winter

Len Winter — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:00:52 +0000

Hi Ed,

This is really awesome. I am not too fluent in Linux but have a new machine for the house. I started off trying out Fedora. I know I came very close (piecing this all together, but still got stuck.

then I loaded Ubuntu. Wow what a difference! I did run into a problem. If you have a minute and can step me through it, I would be grateful. My tivo (Series 2) boxes can see my server, but there are no movies showing. I have 2 .avi files and an MPG. Any ideas?

Also, I have never programmed a Perl Script before. Where should this script reside?

thanks again!

Len Winter
lwiphone@winterfamily.us