I connected up the Digihome box again to the PC this weekend, and found a pretty useful program for mounting the drive successfully under Win Xp. The program Win2fs is Freeware, and mounts Ext2 FS drives along with other PC Media. (Ext2FS had problems mounting the second partition). The main Win2fs site is at

http://win2fs.sourceforge.net/index.shtml

and the program Win2fs can be downloaded from

http://win2fs.sourceforge.net/downloads.shtml

Once installed, it is necessary to go into Control Panal and click on the Win2fs logo, which opens it's main control window. The drive can then be easily mounted by selecting the desired partition. A normal File Explorer window can then be opened to access the files. If using a USB 2.0 connection to the drive, downloading is very quick indeed to the usual PC drives.

The only two points to make are :

1. Mounting the drive will create a 'Lost and Found' directory on the drive (in line with Ext2 standards), but this does not affect the drive when in normal service on the Digi Box.

2. Occassionally, on my PC, the computer would crash and restart whilst the drive was mounted, when running other processes. It seems best to download the files as soon as possible, and dis-mount the drive again when continueing other computer activity.

Having downloaded some files, I tried various programs that should have handled the .trp files, but couldn't. It is a bit worrying that ProjectX is the only program that worked with the files successfully. The quality was not that good either. Perhaps some settings need to be altered to produce a better result. Certainly the quality of the playback on the PC was not to the same quality as that from the Digi on a TV. Was this the conversion program or the playback program? There seems to be something missing from these .trp files which the Box doesn't need for playback. This became apparent when reading the log from ProjectX, and error reports from other programs. ProjectX was used to Demux the files, which ImagoMPEG-Muxer proved to be the best in producing an Mpeg2 file (TMPGEnc was appalling!). I havn't tried using Womble or the like yet to do the same, or produce a DVD. ProjectX also produced a successful .ts file which could be read by media players such as VLC.

I will try to identify why, if at all, these .trp files are any different.

Hope this is of some interest. Thanks again for help with projectX.

Tim.

I've been working on trying to get the files off my Goodmans digihome clone. Not having much luck! I've tried the IDE-USB conversion mentioned elsewhere in this thread but XP doesn't recognise the device and suggests it may be faulty. Have tried the device on different pcs with different ide drives with the same result. Undaunted however, I whipped the drive out of the digibox and plugged it into my pc as slave. I tried both Ext2FS and Win2FS to view the partition. Both reported a single partition, DOS FAT16 of size 32MB. I then tried a demo of UFS Explorer which correclty showed two partitions, 0.19 GB and the remainder 79GB. There were plenty .tps files on there but couldn't copy them over due to the restrictions on the demo license.

I've previously tried capturing the s-video output from the digibox which was a partial success, once the box was configured to output s-video (otherwise you get a black & white signal). However there were problems with the audio sync and with the decrease in video quality the results weren't really watchable.

So, what next? Should I stop faffing around and buy something more suitable? (my wife thinks so!)

Ho hum.

Mike

Hi mikeyj.

I am sorry that you are having problems with the goodmans box.

Since I last posted, I have been doing more experimenting with the files, seeing what would and would not read them, and am having immense difficulty in getting information at all, from the net, or from any one 'in the know'
I had another email from a kind technician at Cabot, who gave a very brief outline as to how to export the files. He suggested placing the hard drive in the computer, and using R-Studio to read the drive. As well as UFS Explorer, I have used WinHex, which is a very well featured program, with lots of options. I am sorry you are having trouble with Win2fs. Have you made sure about mounting the drive using the Win2fs logo under the Control Panal? I am supprised something is not recognised. However Cabot said that the block size on disk, as for PVRs, is very large (32KB) and most Ext2 file systems have difficulty recognising them. Hence perhaps the reason why Ext2FS etc have such difficulty.
It does appear though, that although the Goodmans box is a clone, there are some real differences in file storage. The files are labelled differently for a start (ie .trp replaced by .tps). UFS Explorer will download the files successfully with the licensed version (although not with the speed that Windows Explorer can). Examining the Hex, it is clear that the .trp files are pure Transport Stream Packets only, with nothing else. Very little recognises them! I am looking to at least convert them into a more acceptable .ts file, and have found two or three methods for doing so, but all ending up with different versions of .ts. I am therefore trying to find out if there is a diffinitive standard to go by that software can accept, since some programs, although saying they accept TS files, won't these. I am seriously wondering if there is more data stored on the HDD of the PVR hidden from the Ext2 file system, which is needed fro playback. Cabot hinted that there were indeed other related files!
Anyway, I will carry on experimenting, and try to come up with a few answers as soon as I can. Unfortunately, poor health is preventing me from doing alot at present.

As to if it's all worth it or not, I suppose because I'm disabled, I have more than enough time to play around with - these things are good for keeping an active mind, but I guesse things must be very much different in your case. However, the challenge of the investigative work is very interesting, and it does help expand one's computing expertise, I suppose. Anyway, I hope that, should you carry on trying things out, you have more success as time goes on. It would be interesting to know what a .tps file looks like (I have only come accross a .tp and .tps file before).

Kind regards,

Tim.

I am following this thread, even tho' I don't understand a word of it, because I'm getting a Digihome and would like to be able to archive 'worthy' material onto DVD via PC (I don't have a DVD recorder and am already living beyond my means!)...

Anyway, Timbo, I think you're wonderful, and I hope your health permits even more fascinating, and hopefully fruitful, results.

parthena

Hi.

Thank you very much parthena for your very kind and appreciative comments.

I myself am completely new to internet forums, and have also enjoyed immensely reading through the threads about DVB-T PVRs, which I have become interested in expresely because of wishing to process video on a PC. The threads on coming to grips with the file systems of PVRs such as the Humax and Digifusion are great reading, and hence I thought to try for the Digihome. I look forward to being able to contribute if I can, but I realise I tend to be a little 'verbose'.

Like yourself, because of my circumstance, funds are limited. Hwever, if you are very serious about archiving/editing files on a PC, it might be best to try to get a Humax 9200T which already comes with some form of download facility, and for which there are plenty of alternatives people have developed to improve it. It also has it's own web and wiki, and threads on this site. However, if the Digihome is the one for you, and you don't mind experimenting, that is great, but please be aware that opening the box does strictly void the waranty (although you can't realy tell!), and cirtainly in the first instance, it would be better to use a USB to IDE adaptor with power supply, which will remove the need to take the PVR disk out the box, and having to have it plugged in whilst downloading files. I too have tried to record to DVD directly using low-cost DVD recorders, but not only does quality suffer, but it has to be done in real-time, with no way of editing. Also the annoying 'black line' at the bottom of the screen apparent with the Digihome on some TVs gets recorded as well. If a sound way can be found to edit the files on a PC with minimal loss of quality, then I think thats all to the good.

I am getting a bit nearer to finding a way to convert the .trp files to .ts, and have found that the program MPEG Stream Clip works well with reading the .trp files (it will also convert to a form of .ts, which unfortunately is still not recognised by meny programs). It relies on the Quick Time Alternative program (if Quicktime is already installed on your PC, this will need to be uninstalled, and the Alternative installed, making sure to sellect the additional extended codecs). The player is Media Player Classic which with all the codecs, will play both the .trp and .ts files. In fact, the quality of this player seems quite alot better than VLC (and definately ProjectX). MPEG Stream Clip can be downloaded from

http://www.squared5.com/

and Quicktime Alternative from

http://www.softpedia.com/get/Multime...ernative.shtml

When I have found a way to convert successfully the .trp files to a universaly recognisable .ts file, I will post the result.

Kind regards as always,

Tim.

Join the club But at least we don't text-speak

My Digihomes (I bought 2, 80gb + 160gb £130 inclusive, it's a disgrace and I've got to find things to sell or I'll soon be in debtors' prison) arrived this morning. They're second-hand so no worries re nullifying warranty.

Pro tem, I have to be content with recording onto tape stuff I want to keep.

Just going to do a fresh post with a mini cry for help re setup.

parthena

Hi all, been playing around some more trying to get the files off my Goodmans digibox (digihome clone).

Wired up the (replacement) ide cable to a usb2.0 ide converter cable as per the link descibed elsehwere in this thread. For this type of box, you also have to piggyback the power connector and power it up independently of the main box using the psu supplied with the cable.

I initially managed to copy 20 or so folders from the drive using Win2FS as descibed elsewhere. What was interesting is that this is not the full set of files recorded on the disk!

Also, had problems with the pc rebooting randomly whilst browsing the mounted digibox disk.

Ok, managed to convert the .trp files to .ts using ProjectX, and then from .ts to .mpeg using the videostream software.

Quite good results, copied off to DVD using Power2Go (came with my pc new). However, the frame size on the .mpeg conversion is slighly different and the image appears stretched vertically on playback. There is an export facility on videostream to adjust this but takes for ever to convert. Way too long to be practical. The save as mpeg option takes about two minutes for a 1hr programme. So then, in summary a partial success although the wife still looks at me with a pained expression when I'm faffing with the box and she wants to watch telly.

Does anyone have a clue as to why I cannot see the full disk contents?

Will have to pack up experimenting soon I should imagine. Can anyone recommend a twin channel HDR recorder with built in DVD recorder???

Cheers,
Mike.

I read through various threads after my Linux T825 failed to try and copy off the video recordings, convert and archive. So following various examples of 'how I did it' I downloaded ext2fds to my windows XP PC and used the manager provided to start the ext2 service.

Via this route I was able to then access the streamed video files on the Linux hard drive connected via USB and SATA adaptor, seeing and accessing both partitions to copy selected files to one of my my PC's hard drives. I have yet to combines the recording sections but thought it might be worth posting at this stage.

AVS4you video convertor (it's a purchased item, but reasonably priced - I'm not sure how much as it is part of the full suite of video programs I bought from them) worked a treat to convert the tps files to an MPEG file that can be run by many windows video player programs - and with the sound in sync. The only issue was that the file open/conversion window did not recognise the file type in it's default list so I needed to type in "*.*" and OK to see all files and then select the one I needed.

Excellent result and quite fast too.