MSGID: 1:396/45.29@fidonet 06624af6
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TZUTC: -0400
Hello Rob!

** On Thursday 02.03.23 - 02:38, you wrote to me:

 RM>> I have a PVR with my satellite TV system that has a 1 TB
 RM>> hard drive [...]

 RM> [...] The unit will accept an external hard drive attached to it
 RM> but I'm not sure how it decides what goes where. I'd have to look at
 RM> the settings.

My understanding is that the material recorded onto the  
external drive is encrypted and would only be accessible from  
another Bell branded PVR (if the encryption and format remain  
the same between PVRs)


 RM> They recently updated their PVR's and told us to just
 RM> dispose of the old one, which has a lot of stuff on it but
 RM> only had about a 320 gig drive. It's not really stuff I
 RM> was keeping other than to finally find time to watch it
 RM> once.

A friend of mine who divides his time between two locations in  
Ontario recently had a similar situation where a new PVR was  
delivered at no charge (without asking) and the instructions  
were to send back the old one "for proper disposal".  He has  
had two other recievers go thru that same process - but he  
decided to keep the old units over time.

One salient difference he noted between the one he was  
currently using and the one they sent in as a replacement/ 
upgrade, was that the new one does NOT support PIP (picture-in- 
picture) which he had grown fond of using.


 RM> [...] the unit Only works with that one company so it
 RM> becomes just an external drive after that. Hmm.. that
 RM> said, the drive in it is a standard computer type hard
 RM> drive so you could open the thing up and pull it to use in
 RM> whatever you wanted if the video is stored in a standard
 RM> format..

Hmmm is right.  I wonder if the HDD could be salvaged to  
operate independently.

There seems to be some YT vids that explain the process to  
salvage.  (I avoid YT vids because most of the explanations  
take up way too much data to show a single step!)  I try to  
look for the textual answers.  One of those suggested that the  
internal drives from Shaw cable PVRs are linux partitions.


 RM> I've been with Shaw Digital (Org. StarChoice) for something like
 RM> 25 years so the problem has never come up before.

There you go. You can pull the HDD out and have a fine external  
drive for other storage needs.  You might even be able to  
access the existing media directly.


 RM>> My Stereo is fairly old, so getting digital music into it
 RM>> is difficult unless I do it through the aforementioned CD/
 RM>> DVD player which is directly wired into it.

It doesn't have an AUX/IN ?


 RM> [...] What I could do is burn a music DVD and I can run
 RM> the DVD player through the Stereo. I've done that before,
 RM> just not used it often.

Hmmm.. I've never tried putting music files on DVD and playing  
that.   My TV supports SD card media, but then it has to be  
photos only. However, an external USB with .mp3 or .wma are  
supported.

Unlike your situation, my old stereo only has a CD changer  
connected to it.  The CD player supports CD-R/CD+R but not CD- 
RW.  :(


 RM>> My system was worth close to $2000 about 40 years ago, so
 RM>> you can probably triple that for today. It is still
 RM>> working well, mostly because I don't abuse it at high
 RM>> volume or use it a whole lot really.

I've owned three units over 40yrs of my time. The latest has  
developed a slight static noise when the volume control motor  
is adjusted with its remote.


 AA>> My fine speakers developed the infamous foam rot [...]

 RM> I think mine are still okay. I haven't looked at them too
 RM> closely in a while. Last time I ran it they sounded fine.
 RM> It has about 12" woofers and a mid range and a tweeter in
 RM> each cabinet about 30" high.

One day, (after NOT playing the stereo for about a year), I  
noticed that the bass was next to non-existent and there was an  
odd mehanical noise in the speaker where there ought to have  
been good bass response.  Peeling off the grill, shock and  
horror met my eyes when I saw that the rims of the woofers had  
simply detached.

 RM>> would argue the sound quality is not as good but I'm not
 RM>> such a music nut and I prefer to wear out a tape rather
 RM>> than the record. You can always make more tapes or disks
 RM>> with the right hardware.

Nut a real audio nut here either, but I always dreamed of  
having a more advanced set up with a Klipsch pair and dedicated  
amp (not just a commercial receiver).

MEANWHILE, I inherited a pair of studio monitors and a matching  
subwoofer that ought to be awesome.


 RM>> Record deal - Was approached to do a record with my own
 RM>> music [...]

 RM> That was a LONG time ago. Likely it was under his own label that
 RM> no one would remember today. My music was mostly Folk, anti war stuff

 RM> Sort of Ironic stuff..

If the voice and instrumentation is good, that can bring new  
life and an appreciative audience to a cover song.


 RM> First few lines..
 RM> It's been a while now, still I get lonely
 RM> And the nights go on and on.
 RM> And now and then I think about you girl.
 RM> I'd like to send you a pretty flower
 RM> For each time I've thought of you
 RM> But there aren't that many Roses in the world..

 RM> It was supposed to be a joke song mocking the really old '4 chord'
 RM> stuff, but most people into country music really liked it.
 RM> There's probably a message in there somewhere..    B)

Sometimes the simplest songs do the best.

BTW.. did you know there is a Fido sysop in our midst who is a  
successful recording artist?  Look up Shooter Jennings.
-- 
  ../|ug

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