Transferring files TO TiVo is very slow.

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BigHammer

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Topic # 50161 23-Nov-2009 20:04
I'm finding it very slow to transfer files to the TiVo. Even a 50MB test clip takes ages (gave up waiting after 20 minutes). I'm using a wired LAN connection and TiVo Desktop is running on WHS. Has anyone tried this with WHS and is there anything obvious I'm missing? I would have thought if you could watch a CASPA movie while it's still downloading, that a LAN transfer would be a breeze. Many thanks.

BDFL
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Reply # 275611 23-Nov-2009 20:46
I have seen the same. TiVo Desktop must be the worst piece of software ever made available to customers. Their protocol is not behind it... Mauricio Freitas (Geekzone Admin, Devil's Advocate, my blog, technology disclosure, my tweets, Web Performance Optimization) Geekzone Price comparison \| Amazon Kindle order page \| How to get the best out of Geekzone \| New Zealand IT Jobs \| Geekzone News \| Jinglebugs

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Reply # 275620 23-Nov-2009 20:58
Cheers Mauricio. Good to know it's not just me. Are you running TiVo Desktop on your WHS machine as well as the XP machine you mentioned on another thread? Samsung Galaxy SII (I9100T) ROM: Omega v20.1 - XWLSD 4.1.2 JB Kernel: Philz Modem: XXLS8

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Reply # 275812 24-Nov-2009 14:56
TiVo to PC is going great for me (better than I expected actually). Yet to try PC to TiVo.

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Reply # 276116 25-Nov-2009 10:42
Yup I have a Intel Quad Core 3.0 Ghz chip, 8gb ram, I use a gigbit switch and networking points in the walls (I realise the Tivo is only 100m) and transferring files is slow, It only sends at approx 1 MB per sec (going via the actual bytes sent in windows) watching it slowly ticking up... so 1 Megabyte times 8 = 8 megabit... The Tivo has a 100 megabit connection, the computer is on gigabit, The Tivo has a Sata2 320GB drive that will easily do 50-70 MB p/s ( 400 megabit to 560 atleast megabit persecond ). So we know the hard drive is capable, the networking should be, the computer isnt the issue, and no theres no firewall, inbuilt ones disabled. What's causing the horrible slowdowns?

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Reply # 276163 25-Nov-2009 12:16
There are two issues which can cause slow transfers 1) The Tivo Desktop is not just copying the file across the network - it is transcoding it. Assuming you give it a standard divx video for example, the PC must decompress it then encode it as MPEG2 before copying it over the network. Depending on the processor in the PC this can be quite slow (especially for HD content). 2) The processor in the tivo is not a high end CPU. When it is already recording two channels (even if you are not watching them, the live buffer is always recording) and playing a third recording, that doesn't leave much CPU time for the network transfer. So even with the 3 GHz quad core you'll never get close to 100 Mb/s. The advantage is that the power consumption of a tivo is only about 30 W (much lower than most PCs).