Is there a way to continue encoding off-line?

[fseatonuc]

Is there a way to continue encoding, after downloading has completed, if you disconnect from the network? Sometimes I download a show before leaving the house and the download has completed, but the encoding is still in progress. But if I close my laptop during the encoding and open it later in another location, cTiVo reports that the encoding was cancelled since it lost connection to the TiVo. Is that necessary. I've tried turning off Commercial Skip, etc, to no avail.

Thanks for a great product!

[mackworth]

I looked into this. Currently, upon sleep it cancels all active downloads. I agree that it would be good to allow CPU-only work to continue after sleep (network connections will obviously fail, and TiVo can't restart in the middle).

You can't do it with current code. it's not a huge change to the code, but there are some interactions with SkipMode and commercial marking, that would require multiple tests to ensure compatibility, and I'm away from my system at the moment.

So...if you're willing to experiment with a beta version to do a set of specific tests (I would give you a list), I'm willing to give it a shot.

[mackworth]

Let me know if you'd like to experiment with that; I'm holding up the next beta for this possibility.

[mackworth]

So I've done the first beta, and haven't been able to include this code, as I need someone to test it. Let me know if you're interested.

[mackworth]

Closed due to lack of response. Let me know if you're willing to test the change.

[fseatonuc]

Sorry for the lack of response. I had subscribed to notifications for this request, but the only notification I received was when you closed the issue today. Ouch!

Yes, I'd be willing to test. I'm away from home this week and next, but plenty of time to test when I return.

Thanks!

[mackworth]

Okay, let me know when you’re back, and I’ll give you a test version. Thanks!

[fseatonuc]

I'm back!

[mackworth]

So am I. :). I have a test version now; If you're still interested, send me a note at mackworth at aol com

[fseatonuc]

Hi Hugh, I emailed you twice but I haven't received a response. It's possible our university's aggressive security blocked your responses, so I'm checking here before I try contacting you from another email address.

Thanks!

[mackworth]

Hi, I can still send you a trial, but I don’t really want to restart the beta, and the changes are pretty deep. If it goes well, we can include it the next version.

[fseatonuc]

No worries. I'm in no hurry. Thanks for letting me know. Interestingly, I am unable to get notifications via email from this issue. I do for other CTiVo issues, but just not this one.

[fseatonuc]

I have the .bin file from the /tmp/ directory that was leftover from an interrupted ffmpeg session. Do I just need to pass it to tivodecode-ng with my MAC before piping to ffmepg? I tried that and I'm getting a Not a TiVo file!: Undefined error: 0 message.

[mackworth]

Theoretically, but the file may be damaged or incompletely downloaded?

the options cTivo uses are just -m for the MAK, -o if you're saving to a file, and -v to get status information. Do you get that message right away when processing or late in the file?

You could also try tivolibre. it handles more problem cases.
You need java runtime installed and the invocation would be along the lines of
/usr/bin/java -jar /Applications/cTiVo/contents/Resources/tivo-libre.jar -m <MAKHERE> -d -o <outputfilename.mpg>