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Data Extraction
[Deleted User]
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Decided to start a new thread to keep any questions on data extraction in one place.
I am happy to answer any questions, take suggestions etc...
New location...
http://www.eccleson.org/Syphon
A new version is available: info in the "read.me"
Syphon0.1.3
* Adds ability to detect Drives while programme is running.
* Removed Pull down combo box
* Renamed Menu items
Syphon0.1.2
* Removes "Device not ready" error box due to USB card readers
being present without media inserted
Syphon0.1.1
* Fixes display bug (can now see the application!)
Syphon0.1.0
* First release
I am happy to answer any questions, take suggestions etc...
New location...
http://www.eccleson.org/Syphon
A new version is available: info in the "read.me"
Syphon0.1.3
* Adds ability to detect Drives while programme is running.
* Removed Pull down combo box
* Renamed Menu items
Syphon0.1.2
* Removes "Device not ready" error box due to USB card readers
being present without media inserted
Syphon0.1.1
* Fixes display bug (can now see the application!)
Syphon0.1.0
* First release
0
Comments
Would it be possible for you to briefly outline the steps for data extraction from connecting up the DHD drive to outputting the mpeg for DVD creation
I’m gona try the program out at lunch and see how I get on but I’m sure others would appreciate some further guidance
Hi Hubamonster,
The prog was developed on a fusion, not thomson. But I have a thomson drive on loan for testing.
So, I have no idea how to remove the drive from the PVR.
But, once out. connect the drive either by USB/Firewire caddy or IDE to your PC. USB/Firewire caddies are great because you don't need to open up your PC!
Once connected, start the prog up and select the drive.
FILE->Open Drive.
This will show you your drives contents.
Select the shows under "pes" that you want to "backup" (I suggest you try just one the first time).
Select FILE->Save As (horrible save as dialog will appear!).
Choose your folder, go make a cup of beverage of your choice.....
Once the copy has finished, use ProjectX to sort out the synching of the files.
Then use IFOedit to build your DVD files
Then use a burner of your choice to burn your disks.
http://forum.digitalspy.co.uk/board/showthread.php?t=176236
Has some more details....
Good luck and plenty of feedback please (good and bad!)...
Win XP pro, running off two sata drives in raid O
Tried the drive out of my Thomson (120GB Samsung spinpoint) on both the primary and secondary IDE channels on both master and slave (drive jumper set to cable select at the moment)
Got to the stage of selecting a drive (there was only one to select) but got an error.
The error I got was a read error along the lines of ‘failure to read address…..’
Do you think the errors because I’m using the Samsung drive and not the original Seagate?
I noticed on the other thread that you said:
‘Tested on Windows XP and (admin rights) for direct drive access....’
I’m logged in as administrator but not quite sure about the direct drive access bit.
If you are going to do this regularly, then I suggest using IDE caddies (you'll need 2). I have my HDD in a caddy sitting on top of the Thomson (it's in a glass-fronted cupboard, so is not very noticeable); I have another identical caddy in my PC - the ones I am using are these, but there are others out there that will do the same job.
So I power down the Thomson and the PC; remove the drive from its resting place on top of the Thomson and put it into the PC; power up the PC and (assuming a following wind, etc., etc.), the BIOS will recognise it and you can proceed to "Syphon". Using this system, you only have to delve into your PC once in order to fit the caddy enclosure, and once into the Thomson to extract the drive. Once that's done, you're just swapping the caddy from one enclosure to another, with no wear and tear or intrusion into either main piece of hardware.
Other types of enclosure will work at the PC end, but I'm not sure about the connection (using USB or Firewire) to the Thomson - perhaps someone else will comment on this type of connection.
Ash
Just noticed your post; FYI, I'm getting the same sort of error as you, but the above still applies; hopefully we'll ge tto the bottom of the problem IDC.
I have to say I have only tested the drive using USB, so I am unsure if IDE is a problem. Someone else has mentioned problems with IDE.... I'll check this tonight.
If it gives you a drive as an option, then it has already verified that the drive is from a thomson/fusion.....
Try out Daniel Hopes extractor http://www.hope.co.nz/projects/fusion/
I have had some success with this....
Do you have access to a USB caddy?
Cheers
K
Unfortunatley I hav'nt got access to a USB caddy, if I have time later I'll try a different drive and see if that makes any difference
There was a problem with 0.1.3 that didn't allow you to save, stupid mistake, didn't test the changes properly! 0.1.4 on the site (now with a VERY DULL html page).
I have just plugged a 40GB thomson drive (not sure what f/w revision) into my PC (it's an IDE-slave) and successfully extracted a program (1.06 GB).
I have also attached a 160GB fusion drive via USB and this works too, (at the same time....).
I'm going to swap them to see if a larger internal drive could be causing the problems....
K
I have set it off copying a nearly full 160Gb drive.
I am using the save as .bin option to ensure that I get the most data off the drive (normal extraction strips off the 16Kb headers off each 64MB block).
I can only suggest it is an XP / win2K thing....
I have seen over on Daniels site that he has changed his accesses because of problems with win2k, I'll look into it...
Cheers
K
A Thomson-derived Samsung SP1614N (160 GB) is working fine here via USB-2
M
Would it be a complete pain to try it on IDE?
Cheers
I'll try the new version of Syphon at lunch and report back. Hopefully I’ll be able to extract all the programs the NZ extractor was having problems with. If it does it’ll be worth the hassle of setting up caddy’s etc.
Respect on updating the program so fast.
Still get the same read error when trying to open the drive, but if I do the following it works
1. Open Syphon
2. Goto File>Save as>click OK
3. Goto File>Open Drive
Was pretty impressed, only had ten minutes to work with it but manages to rip about 5 hours of programs in that time.
Which version was this with?
Glad you have got it working!!!
Don't delete anything from your source drive UNTIL you are sure you like the end results!
Cheers
Except you can save now
My setup is a PC running Win2K (SP4) with a SP1604N and the Thomson also with a SP1604N.
What seemed to make the difference was changing the IDE cabling in my PC: when my PC HDD was connected to IDE1 and the Thomson HDD was connected to IDE0 I was getting the "Access Violation" error and the Drive Viewer box only showed \\PhysicalDrive1 (although the drive was Drive0 and showed up in the Open Drive list as Drive0). I then swapped the IDE cables so that the PC HDD was on IDE0 and the Thomson HDD on IDE1. Then (thanks to Hubamonster) I did the following:
1. File > Save As > Save
"Invalid Index" dialogue window pops up - dismiss that
2. File > Open Drive > \\PhysicalDrive1
The Drive Viewer tab is then populated
3. Expand the PES section, select one or more recordings
4. File > Save As [select o/p directory] > Save
I then followed Musukebba's instructions (thanks) on using Project X from here and read the resulting output files into TMPGenc. Haven't yet made a DVD, as I've used my alloted time on the PC (thrown off by one of the children - pah!).
Many thanks to Karl for his sterling work on this really useful piece of software.
Ash
I tried the above process yesterday on a 30min program and it worked fine, but last night I tried it on a 3 hour file and when it outputted the synced mp2 file only contained the video not the combined audio and video.
I am using Musukebaa’s x.ini file for projectx settings
Don’t know if it’s a coincidence but the file I was working on was one of the files that the NZ extractor refused to extract from the drive.
Got a feeling that the original mp2 file is either corrupt or not transferring correctly.
I’m going to try some different files later, I’ll let you know how I get on.
Hubamonster,
If you can open the mp2 file in a hex editor, check to see if the file has 00 00 01 C0 entries in it.... These are the audio headers....
Cheers
K
Alternatively you can just import the separate, PX-processed m2v and mp2 files into IFOedit, and it will make a DVD-compliant set of vobs and IFO file information for burning with Nero etc.
There are Thomson files which are problematic with both the NZ extractor and Syphon. What appears to happen is that the global Presentation Time Stamp information gets altered some way into the file, leaving PX with no basis to sync the information. Under these circumstances it tends to drop the audio data. I'm looking into the extended error logging by PX on a couple of such files at the moment, and will feed back to Karl as soon as I have something meaningful. One thing you could try is to change the global PTS setting on the 'specials' tab of PX from 'auto' to either '1' or '2'.
I don't think it's a fault of either Syphon or the NZ program, but something weird about the way Thomson data is handled by the PVR itself.
Had a look and the 'trouble' file and it does contain 00 00 01 C0 entries.
Had a listen to the mp2 file in winamp and I noticed there appears to be a rogue 'bit' of sound (about half a second) at the beginning of the file that doesn’t seem to relate to the video. Checked it also on the DHD and could hear the same small piece of sound.
Think this may be the problem, is there a way of chopping off the first 10 seconds from both the audio and video files? Or do they contain important stream data that can’t be missed?
Saying all that, it seems only to be this particular file I’m having difficulty with, so perhaps it’s just an isolated corrupt file that I/we shouldn’t spend to much time resolving
This is still the 128MB file? Was this just a test or does it have something you want on it?
If it is a test, scrap it and try something a little longer. How long did you record for?
Or did it come from the buffer? Did you hit record on the remote then stop?
I have noticed that the thomson has junk at the start of it's recordings, whereas the fusion appears cleaner....
I’m not that bothered about extracting the program so I’ll ignore it. All other programs I’ve tried work, including others off channel five. It’s just that niggling feeling in the back of my head that when I want to extract an important program sods law it won’t work.
Still this time last week I couldn’t extract any program so can’t complain