External hard disc storage

[Johnhc]

Hi, I have an external hard disc on which I have numerous films stored. I was given the disc with the films already on so I have no idea how they got there or where they came from, sadly the majority of the films are not the type I would watch. On my home television I have many programmes recorded and I would very much like to move them to the hard disc so that I can watch them whilst away in the moho. Does anyone know how to do this quickly or without having to run the whole programme? Your advice will be very much appreciated

 

[I2C]

I think you’re going to find this very hard/complicated to do, especially if they’re already recorded.

If you have a smart TV with a USB connection it’s supposed to be possible to record to a disk connected via USB but I’ve never tried it. Already having the films on the TV I think it’ll probably be impossible but happy to be corrected.

I have ripped DVD’s to hard disk to do the same thing as you’re after but it’s quite time consuming, I used an iMac and a piece of software I forget the name of. I don’t bother now, have Prime and download films via there to watch if I want to which isn’t very often.

I know the above doesn’t answer your question but wanted to give you my experience…

Edit: correct grammar and how I ripped DVDs in the past

 

[Minxy]

The trouble with getting the film's off your TV is that even if you can do it they will likely only be playable on that TV as they will have some sort of 'identifier/encoding' to stop them working on anything else, this was certainly our experience when recording to an external drive on a home TV which wouldn't work with our MH TV.

 

[Minxy]

What make and model of TV is it?

 

[kevenh]

In addition to I2C ‘s notes: -

• how technical are you,
• what format are the media files on your home TV
• What format do you need for the Motorhome
• How is the TV hard drive formatted? Could be FAT32, Linux, or a proprietary file system.
• What is your home TV & storage?

If it was me & I knew the answers I’d look at removing the TV hard drive and mounting it and the portable drove on the same computer to move the media around.

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[Gellyneck]

As Minxy has said the content on your TV will, almost certainly, encrypted to only play on that device.
If this is the case you may have to play them at real time and see if you can "re-record them \ remove the DRM" to an external device, eg a Humax box, etc and copy them from there.

 

[Stealaway]

I have a load of films downloaded to an hard drive caddy.
I found my pretty modern Samsung TV will convert almost any format.
Before this TV I had a Cyclone 2 player that would convert almost any format

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[kevenh]

Hmm! Not sure it’ll help with decrypting unless you have the key, but for format & quality changes this is the bee’s knees: FFMPEG

It’s super geeky and I only knew a few of the Linux command line things.
So maybe only relevant if the source media needs optimising for the motorhome.

It is used in the background of lots of full products.

 

[Johnhc]

Guys,
I'm baffled by some of your answers and am really not technically minded. I was hoping that it would be a nice simple solution but hey ho, nothing ever is. I guess I'll just have to continue to carry DVDs around. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. John

 

[kevenh]

Sorry about the lack of helpful posts.
We are trying to cover lots of possible scenarios.

We can try help again with more details about your current setup & what you want to get working in the motorhome

Details like: -
Current setup: the current television, media storage and - if you know - the media format.
Motorhome setup: television and/or tablet, media storage and ideal media format.

err! & etc.

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[AndyPK]

Johnhc , you say you have ‘many programmes recorded on your home tv’ - are they recorded to a separate ‘box’ (recorder, etc.) or does the tv have its own storage for recording…….?
Please give us details (as kevenh says) of your tv, etc. and I’m sure we can come up with a solution to your problem….

 

[Gellyneck]

Guys,
I'm baffled by some of your answers and am really not technically minded. I was hoping that it would be a nice simple solution but hey ho, nothing ever is. I guess I'll just have to continue to carry DVDs around. Thanks for all your help and suggestions. John

If you've got DVD's, a computer and an external hard disc it's fairly simple to rip the DVD's to the hard disc so you don't have to carry them around..

 

[Johnhc]

If you've got DVD's, a computer and an external hard disc it's fairly simple to rip the DVD's to the hard disc so you don't have to carry them around..

Hi Gellyneck, thanks for your answer and yes I could do as you say but my computer doesn’t have a cd/dvd reader. I was really hoping to be able to transfer some of the progs I’ve got recorded on my Virgin tivio box but it appears to be impossible or at least beyond my technical ability. Although I’ve got loads of films recorded on an external hard disc and quite a few on DVD, neither my wife nor I watch them them , they’re too long and we are reluctant to waste so much time, the 1/2 & 3/4 hour tv programmes are far better suited to our lifestyle. Thanks for your contribution though. John

 

[Stonemags76]

I don’t know your home set up, but if you have a satellite dish on your house (maybe a redundant lead from this, now that you have virgin), a Humax sat box can record free view programmes. You could record on that, & then take it with you in the van, as Humax play recorded programmes without being connected to a satellite dish. You can also get a 12 volt adapter to power the Humax box, as this is what we used to do.

 

[Stealaway]

Hi Gellyneck, thanks for your answer and yes I could do as you say but my computer doesn’t have a cd/dvd reader. I was really hoping to be able to transfer some of the progs I’ve got recorded on my Virgin tivio box but it appears to be impossible or at least beyond my technical ability. Although I’ve got loads of films recorded on an external hard disc and quite a few on DVD, neither my wife nor I watch them them , they’re too long and we are reluctant to waste so much time, the 1/2 & 3/4 hour tv programmes are far better suited to our lifestyle. Thanks for your contribution though. John

You can download and convert loads of short YouTube documentaries and comedy programs easily.

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[kevenh]

You can download and convert loads of short YouTube documentaries and comedy programs easily.

I didn’t know the BBC were on YouTube!
I would use iPlayer to download content at home or stream the shows in the Motorhome.
Other channels have apps. Like ITV, CH4, etc