Frequently Asked Questions

My download does not start, or stops after a few megabytes.
How can I play my TiVo files in Quicktime?
The MPEG-2/4 file is different than TDM says it should be. Why?
Can I download more than one file at a time?
The transfers from TiVo are very slow.
What is the "iTunes Icon" option?
How do I open/close the show detail drawer?
How do I copy the show info to the clipboard?
Are hacked Series 1 / DirecTiVos supported?
Can you help me fix <<insert problem here>>?
Can you add <<insert new feature here>>?
What is tivodecode?
What are mencoder, xvid, and faac?

  • My download does not start, or stops after a few megabytes.
    • This could be a bug with TDM, a documented bug with your TiVo, or your TiVo is temporarily not able to send the file. TDM version 2.1 introduces a new download system that may not work on some machines. It is being investigated and updates will be made available soon. As it says on the home page: "This is a an unsupported work in progress. Some things may break as others are being fixed. Use at your own risk."
    • Make sure that the enclosing folders of the application and the download location do not contain special characters (e.g. • ƒ ™ £)
    How can I play my TiVo files in Quicktime?
    • The MPEG-2 files created by TiVo are not compatible with the MPEG-2 plug-in for Quicktime. If you choose to convert the file to MPEG-4, it should play in Quicktime.
  • The MPEG-2/4 file is different than TDM says it should be. Why?
    • The TiVo file size is larger than the decoded MPEG-2. TDM will estimate the MPEG-2 size in the Now Playing window but it is not exact. Similarly for an MPEG-4, the size of the compressed file cannot be known ahead of time, but a loose approximation will be shown while downloading.
  • Can I download more than one file at a time?
    • No. TiVo only allows for one transfer at a time. If you are transfering a file from one TiVo to another TiVo, the downloads may fail.
  • The transfers from TiVo are very slow.
    • There are several factors that affect transfer speeds. First, the TiVo itself transfers shows pretty slowly. Second, many TiVos have USB 1.1 ports which slow things even further. Third, if you have an 802.11b (11Mbps) wireless connection, you may experience additional bottlenecks.
  • What is the "iTunes Icon" option?
    • If you are converting to an MPEG-4 and auto-importing into iTunes, you have a choice how the show will appear in iTunes. Selecting "Video Frame" will allow iTunes to pick the icon, which will be a frame about 8 seconds into the video. However, since this frame is often not actually significant, the "Generic TDM" option is available, which will set the show icon to the TiVoDecode Manager icon.
  • How do I open/close the show detail drawer?
    • To the right of the Now Playing list is a small triangle. Clicking this triangle will open/close the detail drawer.
  • How do I copy the show info to the clipboard?
    • The information in the detail drawer is selectable. Once the text is selected, you can use the Edit menu (or keyboard shortcuts) to copy the text.
  • Are hacked Series 1 / DirecTiVos supported?
    • If it's not a standalone Series 2 TiVo, it is not supported. TDM was designed to ease the decryption process on TiVoToGo-supported TiVos. Any Series 1 or DirectTiVos do not use this encryption, and are thus not supported by TDM.
  • Can you help me fix <<insert problem here>>?
    • Yes/No/Maybe. This is an unsupported product, which means no support is provided. You can also try deleting the preferences file located in home folder at ~/Library/Preferences/com.TiVoDecode.TiVoDecode
  • Can you add <<insert new feature here>>?
    • I am always looking for future feature ideas. Please post them in the forum.
  • What is tivodecode?
    • tivodecode is a program that removes the encryption from .TiVo files. The program was developed by other people since TiVoToGo is only available with Toast on Mac OS X and not available at all on Linux. It is included with TDM.
  • What are mencoder, xvid, and faac?
    • mencoder is a third-party utility released under the GPL. While TDM is not (yet) released under the GPL, mencoder is included via the mere aggregation clause of the GPL. xvid is another open-source program used to compile mencoder and is also released under the GPL. faac is another open-source program used to compile mencoder and is released under the LGPL. A copy of the mencoder software (with xvid and faac) is included using unmodified source code from the CVS repositories.