by imprator » Tue Feb 08, 2011 9:59 pm
It worked!
With this technique I was able to transfer my Sky+ 80Gb disc contents to a 1Tb disc on my Samsung HD box running Darwin software.
My exact steps were;
1/ I copied Sky+ disc contents to a blank 1Tb disc using Copy+.
2/ Temporarily installed the 1Tb disc into an old Thomson HD box.
3/ Placed card from Sky+ box into the Thomson HD box (I suspect this step was not actually necessary).
4/ Having checked that my recordings were present, I did a forced software download on the Thomson HD box. (This step might also be unnecessary.)
5/ I installed the 1Tb disc in the Samsung HD box, and placed the card from the Sky+ box in the Samsung box.
When I started the Samsung HD box it displayed an on-screen message that my box had been updated with the latest software. I exited this message, and confirmed that all my recordings were present. I called Sky to pair the card with the new machine, and all was well.
Some observations –
- The Samsung HD box was definitely running Darwin software. I had previously tried to do a direct transfer of the Sky+ disc contents to the Samsung box using Copy+. The copy process was successful, but when the disc was installed into the Samsung HD box it showed a blank Planner. (It was only then that I became aware of the Darwin software issue). The System Details screen confirmed the presence of Darwin software (the “SYSF” tag was present).
- The above process seems to be a method (the only method?) by which Sky+ recordings can be transferred to an HD box running Darwin software.
- Thomson boxes are not yet updated to Darwin software (and some reports indicate that they never will run Darwin software). As long as this remains the case it is possible that this process will work even with a Thomson box which has been updated to the latest software, and that the same box can be used repeatedly for this task.
- After completing step 4 as shown above I connected the 1Tb drive to my PC to check whether the recordings were still visible in Copy+. They were, and I received no Darwin warning from Copy+.
Assuming this technique works using Thomson HD boxes which have already been updated to the latest software (my box hadn’t had its software updated for at least eighteen months) it would seem to offer a method by which others can transfer their Sky+ recordings to Darwin-equipped HD boxes. Of course, you need to have a spare Thomson HD box lying around. Alternatively, you could buy one from Ebay (they are quite cheap) and sell it on once it has completed it’s purpose.
I haven’t seen this approach posted elsewhere; the only posts I have seen have stated that it is now impossible to transfer Sky+ recordings to a Darwin HD box. However, I am no expert. If I have misunderstood, or if this approach is already known, I apologise for posting it.