SA8300HD DVR Video Extraction

[jarmstrong]

Hello everyone. I just rejoined the this group, as I lost touch about a year+ ago with hdcolumbus.org. Anyway after searching the forum, I wanted to see if anyone was able to extract the stored content for archiving. I have the TW SA8300 DVR for about a year now, and wanted to see if this was possible. I'm pretty sure that my unit doesn't have the firewall port, but I will double check. Any ideas on how I could pull the content off?

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

[snodgrass23]

The easiest way, though with worst quality, would be to just record it onto a VHS tape. It would also take some time, obviously.

[TheCableGuy]

Yeah I really didn't want to break the ice with the answer, but taping to VHS is about the only option sadly :(

[zelig2]

I attempted to post something a while back but I think it lost my post. The post basically said that it would be very hard but it could be possible. My thought was to remove the Hard Drive from the DVR and put it into a Linux box. Then go through and try to find what file system they are using and mount it under that. I think it's safe to say they aren't compressing the HD feeds at all and probably just doing MPEG2 on the analog channels. So once you find the files it should be fairly straight forward to get the files over to your network. Most likely you'll need to put them into an AVI container to get them to play on a PC. Of course, all this will void any warrenties you may have with the box and I doubt TWC would approve since they're the actual "owners" of the box (you're only leasing it).

[snodgrass23]

That also uses the assumption that it isn't using any proprietary codec or filing system and that you would be able to even see anything on it.

[jarmstrong]

I want to thank everyone for their replies. I was afraid that the VHS option would be memtioned. I guess that I will utilize my Tivo Series 1 for those programs that I know I won't be able to watch before the hard drive fills up and burn those shows to dvd so that I have something to watch while traveling.

Thanks again.

[zelig2]

It looks like it does use some kind of propriety file system. One guy though has managed to extract the log files here: http://www.academicunderground.org/dvr/. It seems like he was doing exactly as I suggested. Finding the way to access the file system seems to be tricky and as of yet unknown. Assuming that SARA and PassPort use the same filesystem (likely) someone posted a screen shot of the SARA HDD info and it labeled the saved programs as AVFS (audio video file system would be my guess). If I didn't use my PVR so much I'd probably try to crack the file system. That being said, anyone who opens up the boxes the hard drive is supposed to have a tamper sticker on it so that if you touch it the oil from your fingers will cause it to said VOID. Just a little FYI.

[seibu1]

I just dump stuff off to my set-top DVD recorder. Hopefully set-top HD-DVD recorders or set-top Blu-ray recorders won't be too far off.

[lazer310]

I would go for the recording to DVD option as well. Get a cheap DVD recorder from WalMart, and go from there. It's a pain to do it that way, and you can't get HD, but it is better than nothing.