Playing Topfield Files on a T4

[tezza007]

I've ripped the last of the recordings off the Topfield 7160 so I can finally retire it
Does anyone know what format I need to convert them to to play on the T4?
Each recording has 3 files, eg file.mpg, file.mpg.inf, file.mpg.nav

[netmask]

The mpg file should play ok but I don't think the other navigation and information files will be of much use. Maybe someone else may know. Possibly there is a conversion program to convert these into the equivalent of the Enigma format files. The mpg file, the actual video you could rename to .ts but I doubt if that would be necessary as mpg is an acceptable suffix.

[MrQuade]

Here is a post on Whirlpool that seems to recommend MCEBuddy for the purpose of producing more cross-compatible files from Topfield .mpg files.

I have no idea how similar the Topfield .mpg format is to the .ts format produced by the Wiz units.

[netmask]

Just a thought if the 3 files are in a folder you could try TSDoctor, selecting the video file (mpg) and see what it makes of it. When you edit a T3 file directly in TSDoctor it also edits the helper files along with it and maybe does the same with Topfield? The other idea I would try is I would rename the video to .TS and leave the helper files as is and see how the T4 handles it?

[netmask]

The old Topfield format .rec was basically a standard mpg file with a different header - ProjectX had a specific menu item to replace this header with a stock standard mpg header. I think I read when they changed from .rec to mpg they dropped their old header and went standard. But that was a a lot of water under my memory bridge

I read MCEBuddy re-encodes and is very slow whereas ProjectX and TSDoctor don't and are quite quick.

The easiest thing to do is try it and see what the T4 does....

[tezza007]

The T4 won't play them as is. Shows zero size and length
I'll try some of the other advice
Thanks

[dRdoS7]

Hi,

Use ProjectX, and remux as .ts.

I found some played OK as .mpg (from a 7260 & 2470), but some didn't. Those that didn't, I just remuxed as above.

As an update: The 2 that didn't play were from ABC & ABC2, the 1 that did was SBSHD.

dRdoS7

[netmask]

Fully agree - I routinely use ProjectX but in Demux mode in order to activate it's clean up transmission errors routine. I then remux the audio and video in Womble. Unfortunately ProjectX won't handle mpeg4 H264 HDTV files and I suspect there will be more of those. Recently bought TSDoctor and it does a good job as well. It looks like a worthy successor to ProjectX but it's not free €29.95

[IanSav]

Hi,

I just received an E-Mail offer from VideoReDo to upgrade my version 4 license to a version 5 license for only $20 (US$ I presume). Version 4 had H.264 processing but they claim version 5 is much better. Plus there are other new features including audio transcoding and more.

Others may care to investigate this product to see if it is less expensive to purchase at the moment.

Regards,
Ian.

[tezza007]

The mpg file should play ... The mpg file, the actual video you could rename to .ts but I doubt if that would be necessary as mpg is an acceptable suffix.

The .mpgs won't play on the T4 or on the computer
Renaming to .ts still won't play on the computer
MediaInfo only shows the name and size of the file, nothing else
VideoToVideo won't open them "Invalid data found when processing input"
Potplayer "The file exists but does not seem to have any video"
Haven't tried other suggestions yet

[netmask]

It sounds like a job for ProjectX and I would use demux mode to clean up any transmission errors. If you don't have it and need to install it give me a PM and I will send you my ProjectX ini file. It will set it up for Australian conditions. Or do a search here as I have posted it in the past. It's called X.ini. TSDoctor is definitely worth looking at as well.

[netmask]

Here it is

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8159&hilit=+X.ini

[tezza007]

Video Redo Tv Suite won't open them
ProjectX. I got lost when it wanted a Java SDK, though I remember using this program a year or so ago. Your link is broken BTW

[tezza007]

TS Doctor2 won't open them. "Not a valid transport stream" and something about PIDs

[IanSav]

Hi Tezza,

Do the files work on the original box?

Regards,
Ian.

[netmask]

Video Redo Tv Suite won't open them
ProjectX. I got lost when it wanted a Java SDK, though I remember using this program a year or so ago. Your link is broken BTW

ProjectX requires java as it's a java based program - if you do an Internet search you may find a version that has been complied in a standard windows install so you don't need to install java if you don't like it. The Wiki link is no more apparently - I will remove it from my signature.

[peteru]

Any chance that the files were recorded with DRM applied? Some PVRs do that.

[netmask]

I doubt it from the Topfield 7160 model review http://www.goodgearguide.com.au/review/ ... 60/350174/

You can download files from the PVR to your PC, and you can upload files to its hard drive so that you can play them on the PVR. It will playback Xvid- and DivX-encoded files, as well as MP3s, and you can view JPEG photos on it, too. Unfortunately, only one file at a time can be uploaded, which can be a pain if you're trying to upload music or photos — you're better off just connecting a USB drive for these — but it's not much of an inconvenience for video files.

Using the Belkin Powerline adapters, file transfers averaged 6.6 megabytes per second, which means that a 30min standard-definition recording (567MB) took almost 1min 20sec to download. With an 802.11n wireless network, the same transfer took around 25min.

[tezza007]

Ian, they did, but I've now ripped the HDD out of that and decommissioned it
peteru, I've never heard it mentioned before
Netmask, I'll have a look.
Starting to look like more trouble than it's worth

[tezza007]

Found a version of project X that said it didn't need Java. It then proceeded to download Java.
All seemed to install fine as Project X - Complete.
Whe3n I run it I get an error:
Java Virtual Machine Launcher
Could not find the main class:
net.sourceforge.dvb.projectx.common.Start. Program will exit

[IanSav]

Hi Tezza,

The reason for my question was to check if the files have been damaged since they were extracted from the old unit. If they were damaged then you may be unable to recover anything useful from those files. It may be appropriate, if possible, to reconstitute the original machine so you can create a fresh extract of the recordings.

Regards,
Ian.

[netmask]

Try this one http://www.watchersnet.de/Downloads/tab ... fault.aspx

[tezza007]

Ian. I can't see how all 9 recordings would've been corrupted. Surely not

[IanSav]

Hi Tezza,

Did any of the recordings work? If any of the recordings worked then corruption could explain why some did not work. If all the recordings are unplayable then a file format issue is more likely to be the problem.

From a quick Google search it appears that 7160 files are *not* normal MPEG files.

Just to help with a couple of issues re the 7160.

1) play back of recorded files on a pc - The manual says:

Chapter 7
Recording and Playback (p40)
You can record TV programmes into the built-in hard drive.
NOTE
To use an external hard drive, you must connect the external
hard drive to the USB port of the digital receiver. You cannot
play back the recordings with a regular MPEG player on
your computer because they are formatted differently from
the standard MPEG format. Visit http://www.kmplayer.
com where you can find an MPEG player able to play them
back.

I have had some success but not all files, with VLC Media Player and Media Player Classic.

Regards,
Ian.

[tezza007]

Of the 9 I took off the 7160, none would play

Netmask, that version of ProjectX gave me the same errors. Maybe it doesn't like Windows10

[netmask]

A friend of mine currently has a 7160 and can confirm the files do not have DRM or any special header - they are stock standard TS files. They can be played on his PC/MAC directly without any processing. Maybe your files all 9 of them have been corrupted in the transfer process? The other alternative is if you can select the smallest file you may be able to upload it to a site and I'll download it and have a look as will my friend if he has time from work.

[raymondjpg]

A friend of mine currently has a 7160 and can confirm the files do not have DRM or any special header - they are stock standard TS files. They can be played on his PC/MAC directly without any processing. Maybe your files all 9 of them have been corrupted in the transfer process? The other alternative is if you can select the smallest file you may be able to upload it to a site and I'll download it and have a look as will my friend if he has time from work.

I have passed my 7160 on now that I have a T2 which gives me similar, but better, functionality, but from my recollection I concur with netmask that there was absolutely nothing unusual or irregular about the mpeg-ts files transferred to a pc by ftp (IIRC). As netmask says to all intents and purposes "stock standard TS files". Maybe MediaInfo can be used to confirm.

[tezza007]

As I said above, MediaInfo shows only the name and size and nothing else. They are mpg files not ts

[raymondjpg]

As I said above, MediaInfo shows only the name and size and nothing else. They are mpg files not ts

OK. I have just read the whole thread. However, Topfield routinely named mpeg-ts files with an mpg extension. Media players would play these .mpg files without any problem, and if you wished to rename them as .ts files that would be also be fine by the same media players. They are still mpeg-ts, and MediaInfo would not see any difference if the files were renamed.

As has been said before It looks like something went wrong in the file transfer process. To my recollection I only ever used ftp to a pc and never had any problems with playing or editing the files.

[tezza007]

It seems strange that every file would be corrupted. I copied from the 7160 to a USB stick

[prl]

... They are mpg files not ts

While that may be what their extensions are, they are not mutually exclusive formats. In fact TS (Transport Stream) is a class of MPEG-2 file formats. The other is PS (Program Stream). MPEG2-TS is normally used for broadcast; MPEG2-PS (and MPEG1-PS) is normally used for physical media, like DVD. It's actually a bit more complicated than that, see the links, but the principle is correct.

PVRs recording a broadcast MPEG2-TS channel normally capture a subset of the available streams as an MPEG2-TS format file, whatever file extension they choose to use.

How did you copy the recordings from the 7160 to the USB stick, and could that have changed the contents in any way? For example, could it have applied some sort of DRM so that they could only be played on the (or a) 7160?

The 7160 doesn't seem to be advertised as Shackleview, but perhaps it was designed that way, and the mangling of the recordings was to satisfy Shackleview requirements about copying recordings off the device.

It seems strange that every file would be corrupted. I copied from the 7160 to a USB stick

Not if it's something systematic like DRM being applied, or an unsuitable copy mechanism.

[raymondjpg]

It seems strange that every file would be corrupted. I copied from the 7160 to a USB stick

I never tried that form of file transfer from a 7160 so I don't know. I am not an advocate of ProjectX but I do acknowledge that on occasion it has succeeded from time to time when more user friendly and functional software failed. I see that you have tried to find a version that does not involve installing Java separately, and I have version 0.91.0 on my pc that came I think from VideoHelp which I thought had java inbuilt. Unfortunately that link is down too, but there is a link to it at https://sourceforge.net/projects/project-x/files/

Edit: And here is another link to ProjectX 091008 portable http://juhuj.com/open-file-7z-convert-7 ... page-5.htm

This is a roundabout way to the VideoHelp download page. Hit the "Download" button on the second item down.

It looks like v0.91.0 needs java runtime installed. Perhaps v091008 portable (as the name implies) does not.

[tezza007]

The portable one worked. Had to put it on the Usb stick with the files. No good though, I'll give up on them, not a big loss. Thanks

-> Filetype is unknown
!> Filetype not supported !

[raymondjpg]

The portable one worked. Had to put it on the Usb stick with the files. No good though, I'll give up on them, not a big loss. Thanks

-> Filetype is unknown
!> Filetype not supported !

I suggest you keep this portable version archived somewhere. It can work with subtext in mpeg-ts files with AC3 sound. The 0.91.0 version only works with subtext with mpeg sound. There is a version 0.91.10 that also works with subtext with AC3 sound.

[tezza007]

The Topfield is now retired, so I won't need Project X