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COX & Motorola DCT6400 Series DVR
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gms01
Newbie
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29. September 2005 @ 18:45 |
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And that's just how it works for me, since I don't have the complication (or the benefits) of an AV receiver. While using the VCR is acceptable in a pinch, it's hardly an ideal solution. So now, who's going to be the first here to try archiving DVR recordings through the firewire port using the instructions at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3818890#post... It won't be me, sad to say, since my PC lacks a firewire port and my wallet lacks money, but I'd love to see someone here make it work!
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timsama
Newbie
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1. October 2005 @ 13:50 |
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I just got the connection working yesterday. It works like a charm, though I haven't been able to watch live TV (I'm trying to get it to work via MediaPortal). I used a Firewire connection, and the guide here:
http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/index.html
Hope this helps, and if any of you know how to be able to watch live TV through it, let me know.
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NeoJew
Newbie
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10. October 2005 @ 15:19 |
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I just happened to stumble here while trying to extract some videos from my DVR. I too have the DCT6400 and have Cox Comm. in RI.
I have in the past recorded to VHS through my DVR, it also recorded the menus and info bars. (Actually I think that may have been my old non-DVR Motorola Cable box)
Anyway I made an account just for this topic.
I haven't tried this out yet, but I wanted to thank you guys for the info.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 10. October 2005 @ 15:19
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RNF1968
Member
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10. October 2005 @ 15:31 |
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Welcome NeoJew. Interesting nick name. :) It does work. The only pain is that you have to record live TV or play what you have recorded in order to capture it on you PC. It would be nice to just grab the file off the internal HD and copy it to your PC. But this is good enough for now. Thanks all!
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timsama
Newbie
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10. October 2005 @ 18:28 |
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Well, I've managed to get a Graphedit filter to give me live audio/video over firewire, but I'm stumped as to getting it to work in Mediaportal. I'm going to try some XML wizardry when I get home to get it to work, but in case you want to know what filters I used to get it to work, they are as follows (I wrote the names exactly as they appear in Graphedit):
[Audio] Motorola 6412 -> Elecard MPEG Push Demultiplexer -> AC3Filter -> Default DirectSound Device
[Video] Motorola 6412 -> Elecard MPEG Push Demultiplexer -> Mpeg2Dec Filter -> Video Renderer
Anyways, I've got to go. Good luck you guys!
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NeoJew
Newbie
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10. October 2005 @ 20:48 |
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What's the box look like on the inside?
Can the HDD be removed or is it integrated?
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DarkMeta1
Newbie
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8. November 2005 @ 17:26 |
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i dont know about cox but with comcast if you request a unit with the USB port enabled they will supply it to you, i just got mine today
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gms01
Newbie
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8. November 2005 @ 20:16 |
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That's great! Please let us know what you succeed in doing using the USB port.
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DarkMeta1
Newbie
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9. November 2005 @ 13:13 |
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I sure will, im new to the whole dvr thing so it may take a little messing with, anyone know what programs(s) i should attempt to use to transfer from my set top box to my pc? I can run on Linux or WinXP. I'm about to go out and buy a usb 2 cord so i can get started. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 9. November 2005 @ 13:17
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Papafrog
Newbie
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16. May 2006 @ 17:16 |
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Instead of using a VCR to record the DVR use another DVD recorder.
mike leveque
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Member
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16. May 2006 @ 20:18 |
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I have Cox, RI and have been fooling around with various means of backing up shows to free up the HD. Some programs can be downloaded as mentioned above through the right Firewire port but some shows are c5 protected and don't come through. I have yet to find anything to crack this protection. If anybody has, I would like to know how.
The VHS method works for me and is the only way that Cox recommends. However everybody will agree that this is not a real solution since most of us want the shows on our computer and not a crummy VHS tape.
I have tried using a Plextor PX-M402U analog to digital converter which comes with an OEM version of WinDVD Creator 2 and produces an MEG 2 file using hardware compression. The result is some cases is almost acceptable and better then a VHS tape, but for the most part the files are just too compressed with very noticeable banding. I'm sure that this is the fault of the PX-M402U. So I don't recommend it.
What has produced the best quality for me so far is copying the shows to my Mini DVD camera (Canon GL1) which will work like a VTR and accepts S-Video and composite in, then making a standard capture through the Firewire port on my computer, like you would with any home video. There is a major downsides to this. It's very time consuming because a Mini DV tape is only 60 minutes long when used in SP (the best quality), which means a movie that runs 2 hours will require 2 tapes. You also need to de-interlace it. So the show has to be something that you really want to keep or it's not worth the work. However, if you chose this method, you have the the ability to control the amount of compression you want, to maintain higher quality if you make an MPG 2 file (my preferred format at this time).
I have a few questions that someone out there might be able to answer.
What is the native file format of the DCT6412 HD? Is it MPG 2?
If so, how compressed is it?
And a basic MPG 2 question: is MPG 2 4:2:2, 4:1:1 or something else?
Finally, it is rumored that Cox, RI is going to open some of the ports in the next year or two. So all of this may be irrelevant in the not too distant future.
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Member
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16. May 2006 @ 20:38 |
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If anybody care, I just looked up MPG 2 on Google and it is 4:2:2 which points out a quality flaw in my Mini DV to MPG2 scheme.
Mini DV is 4:1:1 and is therefore inferior to MPG 2, at least as far a luminance to color information is concerned.
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runesong
Newbie
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18. May 2006 @ 10:47 |
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I recently 'traded in' my old Cox-New-Orleans DVR for the 3rd time and it finally works. Check this out for irony however. The day I got the VHS working (2nd VCR I tried by the way), it ate a tape and now it doesn't work at all. The Motorolas Cox is leasing down here do not have the USB port activated at all... Sounds like TiVo might be the way to go UNLESS you buy a Motorola or similar DVR on your own for use with a Cox subscription. They're just trying to cover their ass with all the copyright infringement stuff happening. If they leased a device which allowed one to EASILY capture, reproduce and distribute media... someone would go after those deep pockets.
A friend of mine purchased a TiVo and has NO problems with it at all. Perhaps the best bet is to buy a DVR with all its outputs activiated BEFORE the law clamps down again. Keep tabs on the latest XM Inno digital radio capture device controversy. Also note that the Clean Flix case has yet to be decided... Good luck and keep keeping us informed.
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carlvo
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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24. May 2006 @ 19:20 |
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I have the Motorola DCT6412P2 DVR and am a suscriber to Cox in Baton Rouge, LA. Can someone please tell me if there is any way at all to capture from the DVR other than VHS? I read someones post that Cox in NO has the USB port completely disabled. What about the FireWire port? Can I use it to capture programs from the DVR? Just trying to find out for sure before I go out and waste any $$$.
I'm hoping that there is a way so that I can get my DVR's hard drive cleaned off. Recording to a VHS tape just seems like a waste of time to me.
Any help and information will be greatly appreciated.
Thank You!
Carl V. O.
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Papafrog
Newbie
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25. May 2006 @ 09:14 |
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Also, the Motorola DCT6400 has video out and audio. If your pc has A/V inputs, just record it to the hard drive. I have a sony vaio and use gigapocket. I am sure you could use whatever software came with your pc to record it.
mike leveque
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runesong
Newbie
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25. May 2006 @ 11:46 |
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IF your 'puter is near your TV with DVR... Good Idear with the RCA-outs direct into the computer; didn't think of that. Wouldn't you need a video capture card for that however? (More $$$) If no capture card is necessary, that's cool, but likely NOT if my main problem was going RCA-out to whatever media I intended on using to archive. If a VCR wouldn't word (new or old), I'd likewise have issued with a computer (with or without) a capture card.
A follow-up re: all of my other posts is due. I went and got another (3rd) replacement DVR from Cox and guess what? RCA outs work fine in BOTH of the VCRs I tried on the other 2 DVRs I had. Go figure. I have yet to try either the USB 2.0 or the firewire outs, but I surmise these still do not work... A twist of fate rather than lime however, my VCR ate the 2nd tape I put in there. I gotta get "with the digital age" or something. Any recommendations regarding the purchase of a fully operational DVR setup would be greatly appreciated, e.g., Tivo, etc.? Thanx & take care.
*** FYI ***
I don't know much about the older Motorola MOXI DVR that Charter cable was using in Slidell a while ago, but I caught word from a Charter employee friend of mine that they'll be rolling them out again - fully enabled.
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dblbogey7
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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26. May 2006 @ 18:02 |
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carlvo
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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27. May 2006 @ 11:08 |
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Thank you dblbogey7 for the guide. I will give that a try.
Carl V. O.
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stokercw
Newbie
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30. May 2006 @ 15:47 |
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Carlvo..., let me know how it works out for you..,
If I understand the guide correctly, we would end up with mpeg2 files via the HDTV2DVD software (even though what we're offloading is compressed digital and not HD?).
I don't have a firewire cable and am hesitant to buy one just for this purpose because:
A - Comcast has told me the firewire ports are disabled (although, based on other statements, I don't necessarily believe it.
B - I'm interested in offloading a UFC PPV.., not sure about the 5c protection.
C - the other I'm interested in offloading is the Superbowl in HD. I've been told that is not possible until the new Blu-ray is available.
Lots of confusion, incomplete, and/or mis-information. I should just bite the bullet and TRY it.., (just as you are).
Good luck and would appreciate the feedback
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dblbogey7
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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30. May 2006 @ 16:55 |
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@stokercw:
When you record via firewire from the Motorola DCT 6412 you have the option of recording TS (transport stream?) files or MPEG2 files. This can be selected in the CAPDVHS application. I prefer the TS option as this is full bandwidth 720p or 1080i with 5.1 Dolby Digital soundtrack. I use the HDTV2DVD application to edit out commercials.
The DCT6412 MUST have the firewire ports enabled.
Comcast has enabled the 5c encryption in some HD channels so it really depends on your cable company. I know PPV channels are 5c enabled.
I recorded the Superbowl in HD last winter and the TS file was, if I remember correctly, around 18 Gigabytes in size (minus the commercials). You really need a huge hard drive to do this.
For TS file playback I recommend TheaterTek:
http://www.theatertek.com/
Of course your PC has to be connected to your HD display via DVI or DVI/component with the proper settings.
You don't need BluRay to do any of this.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30. May 2006 @ 17:16
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stokercw
Newbie
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4. June 2006 @ 05:30 |
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Thanks for the info.
In regard to Blu-ray, I was referring to actually being able to burn something of that size to dvd.., Once they're on your HD, what do you do with them?? Can't get them to dvd player format (other than the mpeg-2)?
Bizarre that I'd be able to play the saved programs and record them directly to VHS.., but nothing in regard to dvd without a whole lot of effrt
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dblbogey7
Suspended due to non-functional email address
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4. June 2006 @ 07:10 |
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I just keep the recorded files in TS format. This way I'm able to play them back in full high-definition 720p or 1080i with the original dolby digital 5.1 soundtrack. I do not convert them to DVD as I don't want to lose resolution - DVD is only 480i. I archive the recorded files in external hard drives which are becoming much cheaper these days.
Like I said I use TheaterTek to do high definition playback on my PC. My ATI video card is connected to my HD display by a DVI/HDMI cable. The ouput is 1080i. My sound card is connected to my surround sound reciever with a digital coaxial cable for the DD 5.1 soundtrack.
With this setup I can record in high def and playback in high-def with no loss in video and audio quality.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4. June 2006 @ 10:24
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xtreme081
Newbie
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16. November 2006 @ 21:46 |
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Sounds like we are limited to the firewire method. VCR is out of the question for me as I am currently backing up all my old vhs tapes to dvds. I was wondering if anyone had any success with a dvd recorder instead. The Pioneer DVR640HS looks extremely promising to me... http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/pna/v3...3089277,00.html . It can even replace the need to lease a dvr box all-together if you don't mind losing HD or I guess you could buy a seperate converter. Any ideas or suggestions would be much appreciated.
-X-
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Member
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17. November 2006 @ 05:21 |
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I don't know if this is of any help you. I have never used a DVD recorder partly because I'm afraid that the compression options will be limited to what the machine decides to do. You see I had a bad experience using the Plextor PX-M402U. People raved about it but I was very disappointed with it's performance, there were compression artifacts all over the place. I case you don't know what I'm talking about, the PX-M402U tales an analog signal in from S Video or RCA and uses hardware compression to generate a MPEG 2 file on your computer. It's real time but the results are unsatisfactory. I'll sell you one real cheap.
At this time I would prefer to get the digital file right off Motorola DCT6400 when I can or use some sort of analog to digital converter of the signal then compress it myself. I use iDVD but there are plenty of DVD authoring programs for both the Mac and PC. The problem is, and you may find this unacceptable, compressing the files takes lots of time not to mention the deinterlacing. But the results are superior.
As you know the Motorola DCT6400 has two kinds of files, C5 hardware protected ones and completely unprotected ones. The unprotected files I just download to my hard drive but the protected ones I have to deal with differently. Now this part might be helpful to you. Basically, the issue is if you are taking any analog signal, like the one coming from your VHS player or the S Video out from the Motorola DCT6400 you need to convert it to digital to make a DVD. Real analog to digital converters can be expensive so what I decided to do was use my Mini DV cameras to make the conversion. What I do is run the analog signal into my camera, which can work as a Mini DVD recorder, then capture the video into a simple movie editing program, deinterlace the files with MPEG Streamclip and burn a DVD with iDVD. The results are quite good but there are two down sides: One is that Mini DV is 4:1:1 and DVD (MPEG 2) is 4:4:4 so a lot of color information is lost. The other is that you must be crazy enough to go through all these steps when a DVD recorder may be perfectly acceptable to you.
Recently I discovered by accident that if you record a show that is live on the Motorola DCT6400 it will not be 5C protected yet.
I'll bet that this information is completely useless to you and I'm also curious to see if anybody has anything good to say about DVD recorders. In particular, if the compression artifacts are acceptable.
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armydlguy
Newbie
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28. November 2006 @ 01:30 |
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I too have been going down the long road of trying to break the code on this industry created complex issue. BLUF, you can record anything you want by putting a DVD recorder between the DVR and TV. Very time consuming and inconvenient, but it works. I'll try and explain how I did this:
Run your output from the DVR (I have Cox in Virginia - Motorola) to one of the inputs on DVD Recorder (mine was an older Emerson, actually Funai), then output to TV. My Toshiba TV has three inputs - one for cable, two for video (RCA plugs). Load your recordable DVD (this unit uses -R/RW), initialize, format, etc., and start the recorded program you want to save and simply hit the record button, then WAIT until it's finished.
I recorded the 7th Game of the 2006 baseball NLCS - 4 hour program! I could not watch any of the other recorded programs while the game was transferring, what a crock of crap! My wife and kids will only watch recorded programs, so this process tied up TV for that evening. One work around is to split the cable signal between the DVR and the TV, but, again, cannot view recorded shows, DVR must be dedicated to recording and there is no dubbing capability.
The only feasible technique is to access the hard drive in the DVR and simply download the files (which I assume are MPEG) onto a PC, then burn back to DVD or CD, or transfer to another hard drive. As an earlier poster said, the technology's there, but the industry won't allow it at this time.
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