Maybe I am misreading this, but it sounds like if I had a Linux partition and opened the files in it, it would work? Or am I missing a step?
You can see the files, but you won’t be able to watch and/or view them from what I’ve seen. They are typically encrypted files.
****************
Here’s a question that occured to me while reading through them.
If I want to increase the size of my PVR disk, can I setup a linux box, mount both the old and new disks as EXT3 and then use dd (or another std unix/linux command) to copy all the content from the old smaller disk to the new bigger one, then put the bigger one on the PVR and have lots of extra space?
If the files are individually encrypted (as opposed the filesystem itself being encrypted), then this should work shouldn’t it?
****************
Yes I just found a way to get programs off a bell PVR receiver. The quality is not HD. I used a Diamond One Touch Video capture device that enabled my computer to hook up to the PVE using the AV cables. You then play the movie or recording and it is captured on your computer in it’s own recording. The quality is not HD but it’s better then losing your recordings.
Bell PVR External Hard Drive Can I copy the movies from my PVR to my computer and watch them
Bell PVR External Hard Drive Can I copy the movies from my PVR to my computer and watch them?
Bell PVR External Hard Drive – Can I Copy the Files to a Computer? After blogging about the Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus receivers and the Bell Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver with external hard drive, many people have been emailing me and asking the same question – ”Can I copy the movies from my PVR to my computer and watch them?”
Well, that’s a 2 part question and there are actually 2 answers. From what I have experimented with, yes you can copy the files to your computer system but no, you cannot watch them on your computer system or burn them on a DVD and watch them later.
The external hard drives that you attach to your Bell Expressvu receivers will be formatted by the receiver. The format is not directly compatible with Windows. The external hard disk drives on the Expressvu PVRs is actually formatted in EXT3 format – which means they can be read by systems with Linux. I have successfully copy the files from an external hard drive I had attached to my Bell Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver and move it to my Windows XP computer system. However, the file type was not recognized and could not be played in any media player that I had.
It is apparent that files copied from the Bell Expressvu PVR are in MPEG format, but they are obviously encrypted and require the receiver to play back.
Bell Expressvu 9241 Receiver Manual
Many people have emailed asking me where to find the Bell 9241 manual,
apparently I rank #1 in Google for that search term. Rather than
responding to everyone individually about where the Bell 9241 manual is
located, I thought I would simply do a post, and hope that this quick
article would rank better than the original.
If you are looking for the Bell 9241 manual, you can visit the Bell support site and obtain the manual in PDF format here – http://www.bell.ca/support/PrsCSrvTv_DTHHelp_9241Guides.page#1.
If you are looking for the Bell 9241 manual, you can visit the Bell support site and obtain the manual in PDF format here – http://www.bell.ca/support/PrsCSrvTv_DTHHelp_9241Guides.page#1.
Bell PVR External Hard Drive Re-Formate PVR drive for windows
PVR - the first time the USB external HDD drive is used in the Bell receiver it gets formatted in a Linux format. It will need to be reformatted to work on your Windows system. Search for “Disk Management” – it’s done in there.
Attach external HDD to your Windows computer, open Disk Manager, you will see the drives that don’t show in Windows explorer. From there you can reformat or do whatever needs to be done, but you will lose all the data on them, including any previous recorded shows and you will need to set it up again if you want to use it as a pvr.
Once you use the external HDD on the PVR, it gets formatted with a different file system. It can be resolved by reformatting the drive on the laptop or PC.
You can do this in Disk Management. To start Disk Management do the following:
- Click Start, click Run, type compmgmt.msc, and then click OK.
- In the console tree, click Disk Management. The Disk Management window appears. Your disks and volumes appear in a graphical view and list view.
You should see your external hard drive listed there. You can highlight it and delete the volume. Once you have the volume deleted, you can then reformat it under Windows and use it again.
Bell Expressvu PVR External Hard Drive
Why buy the Expressvu 9242 PVR Plus Receiver $699 when you can buy the much cheaper Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver for $299 and turn it into a PVR for under $100. Let me explain.
During one of the Boxing Day sales I purchased a 46″ Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV and upgraded my Bell Expressvu Satellite receiver to a Bell Expressvu 6141 HD receiver. My choices in Expressvu HD Receivers were limited at the time to the 6141 HD Receiver or for $299 or the or 9242 HD PVR Plus receiver for $699.
While I truly wanted to experience HDTV with my Bell Satellite system and was truly searching for a Bell Expressvu PVR Plus HD receiver, the price of $699 was not attractive. In fact, the $299 price tag for the standard Bell Expressvu HD Satellite Receiver was still a little steep. If I was a new customer, I could have purchased these Bell Expressvu HD Satellite Receivers for $100 less than they were being advertised for existing customers.
Aproximately 1-week prior to my Disney Vacation, Expressvu had a promotion offering $100 off all satellite receivers and I picked up the Bell Expressvu 6141 HD receiver for $199, which included a free dish upgrade. To my surprise, this receiver allowed me to add an external hard disk drive.
I purchased a 500 GB external Hard Drive for $90 and plugged it into the Expressvu 6141 HD receiver and within 10 minutes I had the full function of the PVR Plus.
Turning the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver into a PVR Plus was easy and I can now record up to 66 hours of HD programming and over 450 hours of regular programming on the external hard drive I had purchased, and all for under $300!
If you are planning on turning your Bell Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver into a PVR, you must purchase an external hard drive that has the following specifications:
7200 RPM rotation speed
40 GB – 750 GB capacity
Single hard disk drive in the enclosure (2 drives are not supported)
USB 2.0
External AC Power Supply
No Sleep Mode (cannot power down when idle)
When this drive is plugged into the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver, the system detects that the storage device has been plugged into the satellite receiver and asks if you want to enable the PVR features of the receiver. It checks for compatibility of the hard disk drive and asks you to format the device.
Once the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver formats the external hard drive, the satellite receiver reboots and the PVR features are now enabled.
During one of the Boxing Day sales I purchased a 46″ Sony Bravia 1080P HDTV and upgraded my Bell Expressvu Satellite receiver to a Bell Expressvu 6141 HD receiver. My choices in Expressvu HD Receivers were limited at the time to the 6141 HD Receiver or for $299 or the or 9242 HD PVR Plus receiver for $699.
While I truly wanted to experience HDTV with my Bell Satellite system and was truly searching for a Bell Expressvu PVR Plus HD receiver, the price of $699 was not attractive. In fact, the $299 price tag for the standard Bell Expressvu HD Satellite Receiver was still a little steep. If I was a new customer, I could have purchased these Bell Expressvu HD Satellite Receivers for $100 less than they were being advertised for existing customers.
Aproximately 1-week prior to my Disney Vacation, Expressvu had a promotion offering $100 off all satellite receivers and I picked up the Bell Expressvu 6141 HD receiver for $199, which included a free dish upgrade. To my surprise, this receiver allowed me to add an external hard disk drive.
I purchased a 500 GB external Hard Drive for $90 and plugged it into the Expressvu 6141 HD receiver and within 10 minutes I had the full function of the PVR Plus.
Turning the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver into a PVR Plus was easy and I can now record up to 66 hours of HD programming and over 450 hours of regular programming on the external hard drive I had purchased, and all for under $300!
If you are planning on turning your Bell Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver into a PVR, you must purchase an external hard drive that has the following specifications:
7200 RPM rotation speed
40 GB – 750 GB capacity
Single hard disk drive in the enclosure (2 drives are not supported)
USB 2.0
External AC Power Supply
No Sleep Mode (cannot power down when idle)
When this drive is plugged into the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver, the system detects that the storage device has been plugged into the satellite receiver and asks if you want to enable the PVR features of the receiver. It checks for compatibility of the hard disk drive and asks you to format the device.
Once the Expressvu 6141 HD Receiver formats the external hard drive, the satellite receiver reboots and the PVR features are now enabled.
Bell PVR External Hard Drive | Can I Copy the Files to a Computer
I want to know how to :
transfert pvr 9241/9242 data to –> windows PC and decrypt them and convert them to .avi
EDIT : i do not want a solution using a tv capture card… i want direct transfert (HD–>HD)
Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receivers External Hard Drive
Expressvu (Bell) 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receivers – External Hard Drive Options
Bell Expressvu LogoIn a previous article I blogged about adding an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 6141 receiver. In several emails I have been asked about adding an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver. Several readers have written:
Is it possible to add an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver using the same method you have described for the Bell Expressvu 6142 receiver.
The answer is Yes.
Even though the Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receivers already have an internal hard disk drive, you can expand your recording capacity in three easy steps since Bell has activated the USB port on the back of these receivers:
Purchase an external hard disk drive for your Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver
Plug the external hard disk drive into the USB port on the back of your HD PVR
Transfer your PVR recordings to the external hard drive
Once you connect the external hard drive to your Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver and power it on, you will be prompted to format the drive. This will erase all information that may be contained on the drive. Once formatted, the storage capacity of the external hard drive becomes available to the 9241 / 9242 receivers.
You can connect an external hard drive to your Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver if it has the following specifications:
7200 RPM rotation speed
40 GB – 750 GB capacity
Single hard drive enclosure, enclosures with 2 or more drives are not supported
AC power source, drives supplied power by the USB port are not supported
No sleep mode on the enclosure (drive cannot power down when idle)
While Expressvu states it will support only drives that are between 40 GB and 750 GB, I have successfully tested drives with 1.0 TB of storage. I have also successfully tested many different drive types, including Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor in a variety of enclosures that I already owned.
If you are thinking of building an external drive for your Expressvu receiver because it is cheaper, shop around for an enclosure that is already built. Walmart in my area was carrying 1 TB external hard disk drives for $94! The drive was a no-name drive, but when I cracked it open to look, it had a western digital drive inside. I could not find anywhere online to even purchase the drive alone for that price. These cheap Walmart drives worked great. My only complaint was the flashing blue light on the drive but I fixed that with a piece of black tape.
It really is that simple to add an external hard drive to an Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus receiver.
Bell Expressvu LogoIn a previous article I blogged about adding an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 6141 receiver. In several emails I have been asked about adding an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver. Several readers have written:
Is it possible to add an external hard drive to a Bell Expressvu 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver using the same method you have described for the Bell Expressvu 6142 receiver.
The answer is Yes.
Even though the Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receivers already have an internal hard disk drive, you can expand your recording capacity in three easy steps since Bell has activated the USB port on the back of these receivers:
Purchase an external hard disk drive for your Bell Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver
Plug the external hard disk drive into the USB port on the back of your HD PVR
Transfer your PVR recordings to the external hard drive
Once you connect the external hard drive to your Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver and power it on, you will be prompted to format the drive. This will erase all information that may be contained on the drive. Once formatted, the storage capacity of the external hard drive becomes available to the 9241 / 9242 receivers.
You can connect an external hard drive to your Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus Receiver if it has the following specifications:
7200 RPM rotation speed
40 GB – 750 GB capacity
Single hard drive enclosure, enclosures with 2 or more drives are not supported
AC power source, drives supplied power by the USB port are not supported
No sleep mode on the enclosure (drive cannot power down when idle)
While Expressvu states it will support only drives that are between 40 GB and 750 GB, I have successfully tested drives with 1.0 TB of storage. I have also successfully tested many different drive types, including Western Digital, Seagate and Maxtor in a variety of enclosures that I already owned.
If you are thinking of building an external drive for your Expressvu receiver because it is cheaper, shop around for an enclosure that is already built. Walmart in my area was carrying 1 TB external hard disk drives for $94! The drive was a no-name drive, but when I cracked it open to look, it had a western digital drive inside. I could not find anywhere online to even purchase the drive alone for that price. These cheap Walmart drives worked great. My only complaint was the flashing blue light on the drive but I fixed that with a piece of black tape.
It really is that simple to add an external hard drive to an Expressvu 9241 / 9242 HD PVR Plus receiver.
Bell PVR External Hard Drive Copy the Files to a Computer
Please explain “step by step” how to transfer recorded movies from Bell PVR External Hard Drive to external hard drive. There must be a way!
Unfortunately, absolutely not. The hard drive gets married to the receiver you have originally recorded the files with, so to speak.
The second you plug the drive into another receiver, it will tell you you need to format the drive to that receiver, thus losing all your saved stuff. So, the drive is only good for the receiver it has been working with.
Bell Expressvu External Hard Drives
My previous post on upgrading my Bell Expressvu receiver with an external hard drive has become one of my most popular posts. I’m continually answering questions about which external hard drive would be compatible with the Bell Expressvu receivers.
The specifications that are published by Bell about which hard drives are compatible with the Expressvu receivers are as follows:
7200 RPM rotation speed
Between 40 and 750GB of capacity
Holds a single hard drive (enclosures holding 2 disks are not supported)
Plugs into an AC power outlet
USB 2.0 connection
No sleep mode (cannot power down when idle)
However, through experience I have found that 1 TB drives do work. There is an issue when some drives get close to full which causes some of the receivers to lock-up. USB keys do not work on your receivers. These have no power source and this is a requirement for external hard disk drives to work with the bell receiver.
The best drives I have found are the cheap Retail Plus drives that I’ve purchased at Wal-Mart. These drives range in price from $50 – $80 for drives ranging from 500 GB to 750 GB.
I have also built drives that work fine. Maybe in the near future I will post which external case and drive you can combine to create your own external hard disk drive for your Bell Expressvu receiver.
The specifications that are published by Bell about which hard drives are compatible with the Expressvu receivers are as follows:
7200 RPM rotation speed
Between 40 and 750GB of capacity
Holds a single hard drive (enclosures holding 2 disks are not supported)
Plugs into an AC power outlet
USB 2.0 connection
No sleep mode (cannot power down when idle)
However, through experience I have found that 1 TB drives do work. There is an issue when some drives get close to full which causes some of the receivers to lock-up. USB keys do not work on your receivers. These have no power source and this is a requirement for external hard disk drives to work with the bell receiver.
The best drives I have found are the cheap Retail Plus drives that I’ve purchased at Wal-Mart. These drives range in price from $50 – $80 for drives ranging from 500 GB to 750 GB.
I have also built drives that work fine. Maybe in the near future I will post which external case and drive you can combine to create your own external hard disk drive for your Bell Expressvu receiver.
Bell PVR External Hard Drive – Can I Copy the Files to a Computer?
You cannot even use that external hard drive on another bell reciever, it can only be recognized by the receiver that recorded it. If you plug that hard drive into another receiver, it will only reformat the drive.
Contrary to being married to a single receiver, this is not true. Married to your subscription as a whole, possible. Have an external USB drive loaded with recordings off Bell ExpressVu and I can hot swap the drive from receiver to receiver in the house and not lose anything. Yes each receiver wants to setup the drive once detected, but I lose nothing.
Formating the Bell PVR External Hard Drive
Formating the Bell PVR External Hard Drive on a Computer
i have the same problem. Used my external HD as a PVR now will not work on my Laptop.
The drive is formatted with an EXT3 filesystem – primarily used by Linux.
If you right click on “My Computer”, you should get the option to “Manage” your system. From that screen you should see an option there for “Disk Management” In there you should see your external hard drive. There’s where you should be able to format it by right clicking the drive and choosing from the menu that appears.
Word of caution, make sure it is your external hard drive you have selected before you try to format. It will erase everything that’s on the drive and if you select the wrong drive, it’s more than a little “oops”.
Hope this helps!
Bell PVR External Hard Drive transfer pvr data
I have done it from a 9241 using the s-video output to the s-video input on my Pinnacle capture card and Pinnacle Studio 9 set to analogue capture. I used to do it with the old Bell receiver via RCA composite out and in but now with the PVR the operation can be done later from its hard drive. In both cases AVI files were written, edited, rendered and burned to DVD. I now plan to get a quad core pc with 8 gigs ram and HDMI input plus Cyberlink PowerDirector 9 Ultra 64. I’m hoping to repeat the above in HD and burn Bluray Disc. so maybe someone out there can advise me.
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