Solved! Avi file from dvr

[lehighace06]

I have a recording on my cable box DVR from a news broadcast that a family member is in, I'd like to turn it in to an avi file, is this possible? I can use a DVD burner if necessary, but would prefer to avoid it if possible

 

[anwaypasible]

how do you know the file is .avi ?

 

[lehighace06]

i dont, i want to MAKE an avi file, like a divx movie file. i prefer this encoding to mpg, and my players aren't all compatible with mkv, and as i understand it those are the most popular choices.

what i'm trying to do is extract the recording from the cable box and make it a file on my computer, as far as i know just plugging the cable box into my computer for a file transfer won't have any effect

 

[anwaypasible]

probably because the cable company owns the box and has removed your ability to connect the box to your computer.

or

the cable box doesnt have a physical connection between the hard drive and the usb or ethernet connection.

you simply cannot transfer the data if there is no physical connection between the hard drive and the usb/ethernet socket.

that means you need to get in there with a soldering iron to solder the outputs to a wifi device (or some other wireless device)
nobody is going to be soldering on their cable box and expect the cable company to give them zero hassle.

 

[lehighace06]

on the flip side of that, the odds of the low-level cable company employee who takes boxes back actually noticing the solder is pretty low... the bad news for me is that soldering network connections is a little above my experience level... i'll have to just get a dvd burner and do it that way, thanks for your help though

 

[anwaypasible]

simply because you solder it together doesnt mean it has a controller to activate the data transfer.

why do you think it isnt the same when you can plug in a USB dvd drive
compared to
plugging in an IDE dvd drive with the USB wires
??
need to have the 'host' that is the controller.


kinda like trying to get your food from some fast food place in the drive-thru ... except there is nobody in the window to hand over your food.
you would have to climb out of your car window and slide into the building IF the window isnt locked.
then make your way to finding YOUR bag of food.
and then sliding back out the window, into your vehicle.

that is a whole lot of freaking work to do.
it is usually very rare that you can bypass something on a circuit board and expect the connection to work.

 

[lehighace06]

thus why i said "i give up" in so many words... i'll have to try a dvd burner

 

[anwaypasible]

it is quite annoying to think of such pushing towards not being able to record anything anymore.

i cant imagine how or why anybody would want to put up a fight when they dont own the DVR
but
owning your DVR or connecting the cable to the computer ... you are paying for the right to obtain the information in your household.
they would have to go through a stupid list of policies that permits you to ONE viewing of the show, simply to provide an allocated space for the show to release a DVD or blu-ray with the entire season on it (or a collection of seasons).


watch it once, i am done with it.
but
i do have some movies in mind that would make a nice collection.
seriously though..
all you are doing is putting a tattoo on the wall to tell people what kind of person you are in the event you are not around to tell such a story.
wasted space for me to put a bunch of diary crap on the wall for people to 'learn about me' after i am dead.

maybe it would be better if people put a bunch of videos on the wall that are for moments when you watch a movie and didnt get it the first time.
but
even here.. this is some self-torture and thus wasted space.


think about this..
you rent a movie for $5 ... and if you dont get the ending, you go out and buy the movie for $15
then you wait 10 years to watch it and when you are done you have spent $15 to correct a mistake (and maybe you lost again).

i think this proves there is a waste of time happening.
and there is an underlying problem with not appreciating time at all.
some people havent grown up with a solid reason to appreciate time, and they need to learn it.

but wasting 2 hours on a movie AND spending money to buy the movie (plus the money you spent on renting the movie)
you should feel dumb standing there in ten years with $15 in your hands and ANOTHER two hours wasted.

i think this is a mighty fine time to say the reason why they let you choose 'one night' or '3 night' or '5 night' rental.
you watch it once and live up to the moment = one night
you watch it once and take a chance on watching it again (you need a break first before watching it again? some yes and some no) = 3 or 5 nights


if you plan on bringing friends to your house and forcing them to watch all of the movies you like .. you are asking those people to be impressed - and you might be wasting way too much time doing it IF you are doing it year after year.
because anybody can sit down to watch the best movie of the year a second time with a friend OR at least tell the friend to watch the movie when they get a chance.


the cable company takes money every month and doesnt give back anything in return that is of any value.
the connection is there, and it is worse than worthless - it is pointless in terms of video.
i can go an entire month without turning the television on at all.
everytime i check the schedule it is re-runs.

if i dont get my money back somehow.. maybe congress will levy up on my side seeking a refund.
they have really gone far beyond a class action lawsuit with the programming being as repeated as it is.

and to think..
maybe all of the cable PROVIDERS are angry too.
if you are a cable company and all you do is connect my television with the broadcasting company (nbc - abc - fox - comedy central)
and the broadcasting company was playing the same show 10 - 15 times per month ... wouldnt you start to think those broadcasting companies have gone on strike ?
except this time we dont see any pickett signs or banners across the newspapers.

dont get me started on things like a nationwide increase in frames per second.. because everybody is ready for that .. otherwise they wouldnt have a subscription to the cable company.

nobody out there robbing and stealing from other people.
lots more verbal abuse - the mental and emotional psychology that decays the world.
sometimes people say 'fight with your mouth - not your hands'
and when they do .. everybody looks lazy because what they are saying is WRONG.
most of the time the topic of discussion isnt important.

see how lazy we have become?
some of the government is trying to sue us for all of the 'hard work' they put in over the last 30 - 50 years?
they try to say the other half of civilization has grown equally lazy.

i have seen too much energy in places where it isnt needed.
i have seen not enough energy in places where it is needed.
i have seen people get confused and refuse to ask questions.
the list goes on.


own the cable box and demand access to the hard drive IF there is something in the operating manual that says you can do it.
simply because you see a USB socket on the outside
and
you know there is a hard drive on the inside
that doesnt mean you can use the USB socket to connect to the hard drive.
there must be something in the operating manual that says you can use the USB socket for access to the hard drive.
then if you own the box and you cant get to the hard drive ... all sorts of unlawful events have happened.
including defying the laws of physics 😛