Get HD via the Visionsat IV200 PVR Plus (sort of)

[Anole]

just my opinion:

I'd keep it all in one place.
If we get the post count into the hundreds, I'll be surprised, even including all the 4:2:2, and USB mods.

Actually, with some firmware support in the receiver and a USB-to-Ethernet adapter, ya might get somewhere.

However, if it's strictly hands off with the firmware, I'm not expecting big things.
That's an area I looked into a few years back, but maybe there's a better answer now.
I wanted to share over Ethernet, the hard drive in my Dish Network PVR.
Never worked out.
Those NAS (network attached storage) units aren't the solution, either...

Came up with two alternate solutions:
- pull the drive in a slide-tray, and shove it into a USB adapter on the computer.
- built a USB port into the STB to suck data off the hard drive when the receiver was shut down.
Both worked just fine.
But, not really germane to this discussion.

. . . and all this only really matters if you want to watch the show in near-real-time.
If watching it after it's over is good enough, then the USB connection between the STB and computer isn't necessary.

Oh, and speaking of software, I use VideoReDo to edit and prepare my video for DVD-making.
I believe it'll handle 4:2:2 as is, but since this was never a problem for me, I don't off hand know if it'll convert formats or just edit it as-is.
May have to go over to their forum and research it.
Unless anyone here knows...

 

[14karat]

If there was such a thing as a 'multi-user' USB drive, I think it would end this dilemma.
Anyone know of any NAS boxes that will accept a concurrent USB connection? I haven't had much luck there...

 

[rjc3895]

Oh, and speaking of software, I use VideoReDo to edit and prepare my video for DVD-making.
...

I just download the trial version of VideoReDo. This program is excellent! It's the easiest way to convert TS files to another format. Other TS file conversion programs don't recognize the file as a ts file for some reason, but VideoReDo handles it with no problems. My DVD player has a USB port for playing mpg and divx videos. I converted a TS file to mpg and it played flawlessly in my DVD player. I know I could just play it through the Visionsat as a TS, but the mpeg format works on most computers.

By the way, I did hook up at USB datalink cable to my Windows Vista laptop, but the laptop did not recognize anything (as expected).

 

[Lak7]

By the way, I did hook up at USB datalink cable to my Windows Vista laptop, but the laptop did not recognize anything (as expected).

Is there such a thing as a Virtual USB Mass Storage Program / Driver?
I've Googled around, seen some familiar names, but no definite answers.

http://www.intellidriver.com/products_1.16.html#1

 

[Anole]

disc speed problem

This applies to using a dual-port hard drive assembly of some sort.
The STB writes data to it, and the computer accesses the data for play back.

Right now, the receiver can record one show and play back another.
So, there is plenty of bandwidth to the hard drive to accomplish this, using Standard Definition video.
. . . do you see where I'm going?

Some tests I ran a while back suggest around 35 megabytes per second throughput sustained data transfer with a good USB port to an external USB drive.
And it varies by brand/model, and computer.
How good the USB port is on the Visionsat, one can only guess.

What drive seeking for reads and writes does to sustained throughput, I can only imagine.
Looks like an area in need of more research.

The idea of having the STB do its thing and record only, then use the computer later for playback, puts far less strain on the drive performance, since the two tasks are disconnected.

 

[14karat]

Lak7, that's what I've been looking for. Actually I've been looking for info on writing the software for it...
Anole, my thought was that if a PC connection could emulate a flash drive to the STB, it would be short work to push that to NAS or iSCSI... I could even see several STBs writing to one source... that would be the ultimate goal...

 

[gillham]

Lak7, that's what I've been looking for. Actually I've been looking for info on writing the software for it...
Anole, my thought was that if a PC connection could emulate a flash drive to the STB, it would be short work to push that to NAS or iSCSI... I could even see several STBs writing to one source... that would be the ultimate goal...

ptth://www.linux-usb.org/gadget/file_storage.html

The Linux "file-system gadget" provides USB Mass Storage emulation. The trick is you need a USB target port, or a host to host cable maybe. A typical PC has all USB host ports.

Assuming you were able to get a mass storage device emulated, the STB would see it as a block level device and expect exclusive control of it. You would not be able to access the data from the Linux side while it was being accessed from the STB. You might get away with some hack to use it read-only on the Linux side, with some constant refreshing of any FAT (the File Allocation Table itself, not the file-system) changes. Otherwise you just simulate an unplug, access the data, re-plug.

What you would really need is to intercept the block level FAT32 file-system stuff and emulate it such that the STB *thinks* it is talking to an exclusive, block-level device, when in fact the FAT is emulated and the file blocks are being mapped to a Linux file directly.

 

[14karat]

Been out of this for a while and trying to catch up.
Just about ready to order a new MB & CPU to replace my previously fried CPU (too much overclock... don't ask)...
Trying to figure out everything I want it to do and this is looking more and more promising...
Anyway...
Even if this couldn't allow concurrent access to the files, it appears it may be possible to have multiple STBs connected to a PC and recording concurrently... is that a fair assumption or am I just flapping in the breeze here?
With everything going on at work and health issues with my wife, I may never be able to see this thing through... yeesh...

 

[Anole]

1,000gb drive on Visionsat

Here's the story:

Got a call from a buddy who was mumbling about is new WD 1tb hard drive.
He got it two weeks ago, and hadn't put it into anything yet.
Something like $86 at a local computer fair...?

I suggested he plug it into his Visionsat, and see if it purred.
The drive is SATA II, so he dropped it into his Thermaltake drive docking bay...(google for more info)
It reported 936gb free space, so he proceeded to record on it.
We'll see how it works out, as this is only a first test.
If you are interested and equipped with a large drive and an external drive cabinet, give a try and report.

With the interest in recording Hi Def programming, the larger drive size might be attractive.
We need to try one of his 1.5tb drives next.
If the Visionsat just shows a directory, that'll be encouragement enough!

 

[Tron]

The drive is SATA II, so he dropped it into his Thermaltake drive docking bay...(google for more info)
It reported 936gb free space, so he proceeded to record on it.
We'll see how it works out, as this is only a first test.
If you are interested and equipped with a large drive and an external drive cabinet, give a try and report.

Very interesting device (the Thermaltake)... Seems like it works in the same way as a drive bay/carrier system, except without the need for a carrier. My only concern would be electro-static damage to the circuit board on the drive due to handling...

 

[Anole]

one step at a time...

The Thermaltake is for a very special user. Not your Grandma. -
For most usage, I wouldn't recommend it, nor do I personally have a lot of need for one.

What I hope to test within the next week are two external drive USB boxes:
- Veris MX1 by Antec
- Rosewill RX358-S , the house brand of NewEgg
Both take SATA drives, and let you connect USB (for the Visionsat) or eSATA to your computer (for higher speed).

We want to see if the 1tb drive (or the 1.5tb drives) work in these housings.