Dvr crashed, can I get the recorded shows?

[christos372]

I have a newer Direct TV DVR (don't know model I'm at work), had an error message, called Dtv sent me a new DVR. Now can I retrieve the recordings from the old dvr before I send it back?
Also now that this has happened I will be adding an external drive, any recommendations?
Thanks

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys!

There is no way to copy the recordings to another dvr or hard drive if that's what you mean. Do the recordings play at all? If so, they will be available until you activate the new dvr.

 

[BobStokesbary]

I have never had your problem. But, from all that I have read on this forum, the recordings are "locked" to the DVR. You cannot copy them to a backup or "decode" them in any way. If you were to try to move them to a different DVR they will not play there either. It would be nice if D* was to offer some way to do that. But, most of the restrictions (probably all) come from the content providers. They hate any kind of copying and have made all the "transporters" provide draconian methods of preventing the copying of any of their content.

Also, just so you know, any recording on an external drive cannot be played on any DVR other than the originator. So you would have the same problem you have now even with an external drive.

 

[christos372]

No the recordings do not play, the whole dvr crashed. Got an error message called Dtv and they said it went bad and sent me out a new one. The problem is the wife recorded the olymipics in which a friend of hers competed. Now it's gone and she turned into wifezilla! Of course she has asked me before if I could record it on dvd or vhs and I said I would.

About 5-6 years ago i bought a panasonic dvr/dvd player. It works just like tivo or directv dvrs but you could record direct to dvd. I loved it but everyone came out with a dvr and it did not work well with Directv. I could not see the programing on the menu screen. Has anyone heard of these and have gotten them to work on Directv?
Thanks

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys, Directv has a box coming out, Nomad that would have saved your programs but with the box dead they wouldn't be available to it.

 

[christos372]

Thanks for the help

 

[cparker]

For anyone with truly sentimental attachment to anything on their DVR, I suggest you Google HDMI capture and have a look at the Intensity from Black Magic Designs. This would not recover your lost programs, but might have allowed you to archive it in a viewable format. I am NOT a proponent of any kind of pirating of copyright material, but it is beyond reason to NOT be able to safeguard some things that are important to us.

 

[scoop8]

I have never had your problem. But, from all that I have read on this forum, the recordings are "locked" to the DVR. You cannot copy them to a backup or "decode" them in any way. If you were to try to move them to a different DVR they will not play there either. It would be nice if D* was to offer some way to do that. But, most of the restrictions (probably all) come from the content providers. They hate any kind of copying and have made all the "transporters" provide draconian methods of preventing the copying of any of their content.

Also, just so you know, any recording on an external drive cannot be played on any DVR other than the originator. So you would have the same problem you have now even with an external drive.

Bob, I think someone here has answered this question before but I wanted to check on it: We can record any content from the DVR to a DVD (or VHS) Recorder, right? Ie, set the recording device to 'record' and begin normal viewing of a DVR item, and the various outputs will all be rear-panel parallel-active, component, S-Video, etc.

 

[raoul5788]

Bob, I think someone here has answered this question before but I wanted to check on it: We can record any content from the DVR to a DVD (or VHS) Recorder, right? Ie, set the recording device to 'record' and begin normal viewing of a DVR item, and the various outputs will all be rear-panel parallel-active, component, S-Video, etc.

Yes, you can record from a dvr in real time.

 

[BOBHUSKER]

I have to mention that I had trouble recording from my Directv DVR to my DVD recorder when I had HDMI cables hooked up. When I disconnected the HDMI cables and used the old fashion Yellow,Red,White cables, I was able to record from HBO. However, I have not tried to record a Pay Per View like this yet. The only time I tried, the recording was copy-guarded and would not record. I have not tried another Pay Per View with just the old fastion cables yet. Just thought I would add this. I will never order Pay Per View again if I can't record it as that is the only reason I ever order Pay Per View. Another note, your Pay Per View will be deleted from your hard drive by Directv 24 hours after you record it. This only with HD, not SD. Bob

 

[scoop8]

Yes, you can record from a dvr in real time.

Thanks for the info.

I have to mention that I had trouble recording from my Directv DVR to my DVD recorder when I had HDMI cables hooked up. When I disconnected the HDMI cables and used the old fashion Yellow,Red,White cables, I was able to record from HBO. However, I have not tried to record a Pay Per View like this yet. The only time I tried, the recording was copy-guarded and would not record. I have not tried another Pay Per View with just the old fastion cables yet. Just thought I would add this. I will never order Pay Per View again if I can't record it as that is the only reason I ever order Pay Per View. Another note, your Pay Per View will be deleted from your hard drive by Directv 24 hours after you record it. This only with HD, not SD. Bob

Sounds like you ran up against the HDCP (High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection) issue. Unfortunately, that's prevelant between HDMI devices. I've seen the same thing with just using HDMI hub/switchers between PC's and Monitors. I had to find a passive HDMI Switcher for my 2 PC's to get around the HDCP issue.

 

[BOBHUSKER]

Thanks for the info scoop. That's interesting!!!

 

[andrewj0781]

This is why they need to come up with a cloud service for dvrs. So if they crash you could back up recordings and timers. Once you hook up the replacement receiver you could download these back ups and you wouldn't lose anything.

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