So I finally got around to doing this.
I used Ext2fsd to copy original usb drive to a temp drive on my PC.
Put new 1TB drive into enclosure, and let receiver format it.
I then used ext2fsd again to see newly formatted bell drive and copied original data to new drive and then flushed cache to disk (as recommended).
however, although i do not get any errors, I also do not see my archived content either, but the HD time remaining on the drive has moved from 133 hrs down, so I know its there.

Any ideas?

Thx
Nevermind, was finally able to successfully transfer.

FYI - upgraded to latest version of ext2fsd, booted in to "safemode", performed copy, flushed cached to disk

Now I'm happily upgraded from 500gb to 1TB and have all my prior recordings

Hi - Great thread here. Thanks
I've just started my first archive of recordings off of a Bell 5900 PVR.
The HDD is out and in an HD enclosure.
I have PVR Explorer Pro 2.0.2.x which has recognized the PVR HD through the USB port.
The option selected is Created mixed program
I have started transferring a 1 hour program.
The status bar on PVR Explorer went very quickly to 90% and is now hanging with little to no movement for 30 minutes.

Can anyone tell me what's happening and what is the 'normal' estimated transfer time to a PC for a 1 hour program?

Thanks
OdB

Hey Folk,

My head is starting to spin after reading more than half of this 14 page thread. Can someone please help this old man out and tell me....

Can I unplug an external USB HD from my Bell Sat 6131 and plug it in to a PC, then decrypt the files so I can play them back on windows media player or VLC etc. I just want to watch my recorded TV on my PC on an airplane (I travel a lot).

I hear that unplugging an external HD from your Bell Sat, then moving it to a PC winds up having it auto-format itself.

Assume I'm slow and if the answer is "yes this can be accomplished" please walk me through the process with a series of bulleted instructions.

For example:

1) grab a beer
2) pull tab
3) put beer to mouth
4) enjoy
5) repeat

Thx group!

No, it can't be done. No one has been able to decrypt the files from an external drive, only the internal drive.

Thx Yashin,

But whats the difference? They are both HDs? I sits inside the Sat Box, the other is connected to it via a USB. I'm sure you are absolutly correct... I just can't understand why the file type would be different between an internal HD and an External. If they are the same "file type" then the decryption software should work on both right?

Cheers and thx

I believe there are some posts earlier in this thread on how to do the internal. You can't remove the drive, you have to "hot link" to it while it's in the PVR, which is different.

Somehow, when trying to delete the contents of a folder (a TV series I finished watching), I deleted all recordings on my PVR (6141 external HDD). I was able to connect the ext HDD to a Linux PC, and I can see all the files, including what looks to be all my recordings. I can even undelete all recently deleted files (Linux utility). I suspect I just need to restore a catalog file so the receiver can list them all again.

Anyone familiar enough with the file system of the PVR to help me restore access to my recordings, or decrypt and rip them?

thanks.

Hey all,
Has anyone ever tried the hot swap method with the EHD on the 6131? Just curious if possibly it might work.

Thanks!

I doubt it will. As soon as the receiver does not see a hard drive, it will re-boot and start-up in normal operating mode.

Hi all

I am new on this forum and understand that one cannot transfer the recordings on EHD to a computer or burn to a DVD.

What I was wondering is if any one knows what format is the show recorded in to the EHD? I mean are they a mpg, avi, vob or mp4?

thanks:cool:

MPEG2 and encrypted.

-Mike

So I read through the whole thread and didn't find any info on 9241, wondering if anyone has successfully used the hot swap method on a 9241?

Thanks!

Hey Mike

Just wondering, if the PVR files format is MPEG2, why can it not be read on the computers?

thanks

because the files are encrypted!

So I read through the whole thread and didn't find any info on 9241, wondering if anyone has successfully used the hot swap method on a 9241?

Thanks!

It's been a few years since I did this but today I pulled the drive from my 5900 and fired up PvrExploere-Pro, but I can't copy anything off it. I get a list of garbage and attempting to extract one says "Possible Encrypted stream, unable to extract program!". Did Bell update the firmware to encrypt shows ? Is there something newer than PvrExplorer-Pro for extracting now?


http://img199.imageshack.us/img199/5103/pvrexplorer1.th.png (http://img199.imageshack.us/i/pvrexplorer1.png/)

http://img705.imageshack.us/img705/8357/pvrexplorer2.th.png (http://img705.imageshack.us/i/pvrexplorer2.png/)


Also the log file

<< PVR Explorer Pro Debug Log file >>
<< 501 HDD Found Drive = \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE3
Invalid PVR File Path :
Invalid PVR File Path : Nòx¨lä
Invalid PVR File Path :
Invalid PVR File Path :
Invalid PVR File Path :
Extraction starting:
Getting Audio Options...
Invalid PVR File Path :
Audio Options = 0

I believe there are some posts earlier in this thread on how to do the internal. You can't remove the drive, you have to "hot link" to it while it's in the PVR, which is different.
Older post, but this is right. To get my recordings off the 9200, I opened it, plugged it in (only power, nothing else) and once the drive had spun up, I unplugged the sata cable from the 9200 board and plugged it into my PC's motherboard (SATA is hot swappable). PVR exp. pro got off all my recordings.

Either the recordings weren't encrypted on the 9200, or doing it the way I did bypassed the encryption. I actually did it to avoid messing with the warranty label on the drive. I haven't done it for months, so newer firmware may make this impossible now.

I have another question. I have a 5100 (as well as the 9200) and have a recording I'd like to get off of it. When I tried a few months ago, it didn't work.

Does anyone know if it still doesn't work? I can't do the hot-swapping trick like I did with the 9200, since the 5100 obviously has an IDE hard drive.

I can just try it myself, but it's rather annoying to remove the hard drive and boot everything up if it won't work anyway.

Ok, so, pulled the drive on my 5900, everything but 2 files are encrypted. Has anyone unscrambled this stuff yet or do I just need to search more?

6131 with a external hard drive plugged in copying recorded video to computer?

any solution yet??