WebAdmin

I just got a brand new DirecTV HR20-700 (well, they’ve been out for awhile, but it’s new to me!)

To frame this for those who aren’t aware; the DirecTV Plus HD DVR (HDDVR) originally allowed you to use a Intel ViiV computer to stream media to your TV via the HDDVR. Now, a few software updates later, it now plays nice with any windows media compatible sharing software. Now, the HDDVR brand includes -several- models of DVR’s, and I don’t feel like listing them, so…. if you have VOD and an ethernet port, you know who you are… Besides, if you got here, you’ve probably already found the feature, but found that stupid X next to all of your media.

So the question is, how do I get my favorite DIVX avi file to play on my wide screen!?

Using your favorite tool (I use ffmpegX) you’ll need to re-encode your video and audio. On a fast machine, this only takes 10 minutes or so.

The video must be encoded using MPEG-2 Transport (known as MPEG-TS in many applications) and the audio must be MP2 encoded (mpeg1-layer2).

Re-encode, and just drop the file into a shared folder, and wait…. and wait…. and wait… (seriously, I don’t know what makes the HDDVR refresh, because I’ve waited from 2 to 20 minutes for it to finally find my file). I’ve heard you can turn off and on your media sharing app, but that doesn’t always work for me, and sometimes has the side affect of causing it to lose my shared folders for several seconds.

Keep in mind, it filters on extension, so be sure to use .mpg or .avi (both seem to work for me).

I know someone will ask, so before I close, yes, you do need a “media share” application, like the eyeconnect software for OS X.

UPDATE: I -finally- found some documentation via DirecTV’s website, buried in a FAQ. The “officially” supported format is MPEG2 video +AC3/MPEG1-Layer2 audio only. I tried this out, and it does indeed work, although not well (some functionality is missing, specifically fast-forward) and sometimes it loses the stream and errors out (which sucks without fast-forward -_-). This does however produce a smaller file than the transport flavor. Another format that works? DIVX! But only some, and I can’t tell you which specifically work. I’ve tried matching the encoding, and have yet to produce a file that works. I’ll let ya’ll know if I get it working.

Yeah, I have it. My biggest problem with the iPhone is T-Mobile.

See, I’ve had T-Mo for years. I was with Voicestream. Heck, I was with Aerial.

So, my trouble with the iPhone is: I love my cell carrier. When I have a problem, T-Mo answers the phone. When stuff breaks, they fix it.

There’s precious few people that can say that about their cell company. No one loves Sprint, or Verizon, or AT&T for that matter.

If you ever read my blog, and no one does, but I’ll continue… You already know I like T-Mo, and if only they would roll out that coveted 3G service, it would complete me. I will have the ultimate in customer service, price, AND data service. Done deal!

Of course, after I get all of that, I’ll say: “this is the perfect service, if only it had an iPhone”.

Damn you iPhone! You make my perfect service imperfect. You create a void. You hurt.