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TF5800 manual: transferring files
How files are organised on your PVR
In the left hand panel, you’ll see three folders called DataFiles, MP3 and ProgramFiles. You can’t change the names of these folders or create an additional ones at this level; each is used to store the three different types of information that your PVR can work with.
The DataFiles folder is where you’ll find all the recordings that have been made on the PVR. If you open it, you’ll see a file for each recorded programme, with a name ending in .rec.
The MP3 folder is where you can store MP3 music files, which your PVR can play back.
The ProgramFiles folder is where you can store additional software for the PVR, which we’ll explain more about in the next section.
When you display the archive list on the PVR, using the
Archive button on the remote control, you’ll see the contents of one of
these three folders, and you can view each of them in turn by using the
Fast Forward
or
Rewind
buttons on the remote control.
When you view files in the PVR’s archive list on your television screen, you won’t see all the same files that you can view using Altair; when you’re viewing DataFiles, you’ll only be shown recordings, without the .rec on the end of their name. Similarly, in the MP3 area, you’ll only be shown MP3 music files that have names ending in .mp3, and in the ProgramFiles are, you’ll only be shown the add-on software that you can run on your PVR and not additional files, such as settings, that any software may have created.
Transferring files
Double click on the DataFiles folder in the left hand panel to open it, and you’ll see the files for all the programmes you’ve stored on the PVR, along with any extra folders you created to organise them.
At the top of the panel, you’ll see a message that says Turbo Off to start with. Turbo mode is a way of speeding up the transfer of files to and from the PVR; you can click the circle to the left of the message to turn turbo mode on or off.
When turbo mode is turned on, and you have a USB 2.0 connection on your computer, you can transfer programmes at speeds of up to a fifth of their running time, so a fifteen minute programme could be transferred in about three minutes. When turbo mode is turned off, it will take approximately fifteen minutes to transfer a fifteen minute programme.
To transfer a recorded programme from your PVR to your PC, click on it in the left hand panel, and then click the right-pointing arrow between the two panels. The file will be copied to the folder on your computer that’s displayed in the right hand panel.
You can transfer files in the opposite direction in the same way, by highlighting them in the right hand panel, and selecting a folder on the PVR to copy them to, then clicking the left pointing arrow. If you would like to copy several files in one go, you can click to select the first, then hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard while you click to add others to the selection.
Turbo mode makes transferring files faster, but to allow that, the PVR stops responding to commands from the remote control, and dedicates all its resources to the transfer. It is not recommended that you use turbo mode if you want to use the PVR while transferring, or if any scheduled recordings are due to start.
In the next section, we’ll look at some of the advanced features you can use on your PVR, including adding additional software and playing back MP3 files that you have transferred to its hard disk.