Can a Dish external HD load to a PC?

[TheKrell]

Super jelly? OIC: a state of extreme envy. You taught me a new expression.

 

[i2amsam]

Sorry, no you can't do that. Not only are the files encrypted but part of the key is 'your' account number. That's you can't even take your original EHD to someone else's Hopper and try to access it. They won't decrypt because the account number on the file is different than the account number on the Hopper.

Were you referring to imaging the entire hard drive for backup purposes? Because that digitally duplicates everything on the drive, including the format, and any encryption buried in the data sectors would be identical. Now, I wouldn't put it past a provider to scan the HD serial number or some such and store that on the DVR device to prevent this kind of duplication, but I've seen no indication that is the case...

 

[i2amsam]

I bugs the sh*t out of me when people are recording concerts on cell phones. Then they post their horrible footage on youtube like it is some gem.
I guess if you are into horrible video audio you are gold.
I will take some stills like my awesome avatar of Buddy Guy sitting next to me at the Fox Theater, but a video just wont get it.

p.s.
I know most of you do not know who Buddy Guy is (real shame as he is the last of a long line of blues greats and the best showman) just like I don't know who Chris Botti is. ;-)

Generally agree, but... The audio in some of those youtube recordings is adequate for listening in the car. I I have grabbed a few with youtube-dl and am generally saisfied with the results.

 

[the mack]

Super jelly? OIC: a state of extreme envy. You taught me a new expression.

Learned it from my friends kids...LOL

 

[arlo]

I've taken advantage of abandoned DN/Direc DVR's just for the 2tb drives in them.
There is a bit of coding in everyone I've had that prevents them from spinning up when plugged into any other device. HDAT is a bootable tool that you can use to clear the PUIS..."Power-up in Standby" mode. I'm sure there are other tools available to do the same thing too.
Plugging one of these drives in a PC shows that it doesn't exist as usable. Enabling spin up on power up fixes that.
The encrytion of movies is indeed subscriber dependent. You could get a chinabox HDCP stripper/converter and capture device and record to your pc using HDMI. Probably frowned upon, but what the hay.

 

[bookworm370]

Were you referring to imaging the entire hard drive for backup purposes? Because that digitally duplicates everything on the drive, including the format, and any encryption buried in the data sectors would be identical. Now, I wouldn't put it past a provider to scan the HD serial number or some such and store that on the DVR device to prevent this kind of duplication, but I've seen no indication that is the case...

Correct, the HD serial number is not part of the file encryption. You can easily mount two EXT3 hard drives, both formatted by a Hopper, one with files and one without and just copy the folders or even just individual folder/recordings (a recording is a series of files in a non-descriptive folder) to the other HD. Without copying the file, about the only way you can tell just what show it is, is to look at the .jpg thumbnail file that is in that folder for the thumbnail of the recording.

 

[i2amsam]

Correct, the HD serial number is not part of the file encryption. You can easily mount two EXT3 hard drives, both formatted by a Hopper, one with files and one without and just copy the folders or even just individual folder/recordings (a recording is a series of files in a non-descriptive folder) to the other HD. Without copying the file, about the only way you can tell just what show it is, is to look at the .jpg thumbnail file that is in that folder for the thumbnail of the recording.

I think I may have missed something - could you please clarify? Are you stating that I can have TWO external hard drives connected to my Hopper with Sling simultaneously in such a way that the Hopper sw will recognize and work with both at the same time? If that is the case, does the total capacity need to be at or under the 2TB limit, or is that limit per drive? The way you describe it, I'm not sure whether or not I'd want to go to the trouble do the duplication on my PC. That would mostly depend on whether the transfer speed is as godawful horrendous watching-paint-dry-in-the-rain slow as the internal to external transfers Thanks!

 

[i2amsam]

I've taken advantage of abandoned DN/Direc DVR's just for the 2tb drives in them.
There is a bit of coding in everyone I've had that prevents them from spinning up when plugged into any other device. HDAT is a bootable tool that you can use to clear the PUIS..."Power-up in Standby" mode. I'm sure there are other tools available to do the same thing too.
Plugging one of these drives in a PC shows that it doesn't exist as usable. Enabling spin up on power up fixes that.
The encrytion of movies is indeed subscriber dependent. You could get a chinabox HDCP stripper/converter and capture device and record to your pc using HDMI. Probably frowned upon, but what the hay.

Is that essentially different from the method using Happauge PVR alluded to earlier in this thread by fmj77? I understand the concept of taking the signal sent to the TV and re-recording it, but would never do that because it occurs in real (playback) time. Copying 1000 movies would (if my mental calculator isn't completely broken) on the order of 70 DAYS transfer time, plus overhead. NTM that automation would probably be difficult or impossible, with the result that I would need to handhold the process (start the recorder; queue up and start the movie playback; end the playback; queue up and start next movie, ad nauseum) for the entire period. If there was a method to accomplish that kind of duplication while dramatically compressing the time involved and or reliably automating the process, I might be interested in trying it.

 

[navychop]

It would be nice to use a Hopper to directly copy from one EHD to a second simultaneously connected EHD.

Can’t do it. Doubt we will ever see it.

 

[Jim5506]

Judging from the way Dish has set up the internal and EHD drives to move and not copy recordings, copying from one EHD to another is probably no go as far as the content providers have a say. They do not want multiple copies of recorded matter floating around out there.

 

[arlo]

Is that essentially different from the method using Happauge PVR alluded to earlier in this thread by fmj77? I understand the concept of taking the signal sent to the TV and re-recording it, but would never do that because it occurs in real (playback) time. Copying 1000 movies would (if my mental calculator isn't completely broken) on the order of 70 DAYS transfer time, plus overhead. NTM that automation would probably be difficult or impossible, with the result that I would need to handhold the process (start the recorder; queue up and start the movie playback; end the playback; queue up and start next movie, ad nauseum) for the entire period. If there was a method to accomplish that kind of duplication while dramatically compressing the time involved and or reliably automating the process, I might be interested in trying it.

Easy. Movies? Just buy or rent the DVD/Blu Ray. Rip to your PC using "various" methods. You're golden.
Everything takes time. Nevertheless I believe no matter which sat sub you have, lose your account and lose your recorded content as viewable. Then you suddenly have a usable HDD to repurpose. Please correct me.

 

[bookworm370]

It would be nice to use a Hopper to directly copy from one EHD to a second simultaneously connected EHD.

Can’t do it. Doubt we will ever see it.

Correct, it will be a hop-scotch forever IMHO.

 

[Jimbo]

That is correct, you can make as many backups or copies as you want for yourself. It's giving it to others that makes it illegal.

For example, I have the full right to take a video camera or cell phone into a concert. I can video or audio record a concert (which I have with my TASCAM high bitrate digital recorder) even though they say no recordings. You have the right to record it because you bought a ticket to the content of the concert.

You can edit, mix and burn a CD or SD card for yourself to play in your car or iPhone. But if you that DVD, CD or card to someone else, then you are breaking the law.

But not if your friends come over to YOUR place to watch it ... because your the one that recorded it.

 

[fmj77]

But not if your friends come over to YOUR place to watch it ... because your the one that recorded it.

No one cares as long as you're not uploading stuff to file sharing sites or selling bootleg CDs/DVDs at your local flea market.

 

[arlo]

hell...we have 'shiners up here that mix up apple pie to sip on. the staties love it!

 

[i2amsam]

No one cares as long as you're not uploading stuff to file sharing sites or selling bootleg CDs/DVDs at your local flea market.

Actually, unless I'm misinterpreting the "tone" of some replies here (easy to do on a forum) there appear to be a few authoritarians here who do care. Why, I don't know (or care myself). My policy with authoritarians I encounter on-line (developed over many years of experience) is to avoid, not engage...