DVR CRASHED!! IS THERE RECOVERY?!?!?

[dtdramatics]

my directv dvr crashed and was replaced by directv. I still have the hard drive from my old unit. Is there any way to recover the content?!?!?!?!!!!!!

 

[Bob Nielsen]

No.

 

[david_gilbert]

if you put that hd in another dvr it will just reformat it, and a computer won't recognize them. sorry but those shows are lost.

 

[mitchflorida]

Actually, the correct answer is yes. But it will cost you more money than you want to spend.

But of course it can be done.

 

[cfb]

I wasnt aware that anyone had broken directv's current encryption scheme, which is still intact on the disk. In any case, it'd be a violation of federal law to do so.

I believe that any broadcast OTA shows you had the dvr record will play on any receiver since there is no encryption on those, but shows recorded from directv channels will only play on the receiver that recorded them. I could be wrong about the OTA being playable, but I'm 98% sure I saw someone say they'd done it and it worked.

If you put the drive in an esata equipped enclosure thats known to work with the directv box (like the antec mx-1) and hook it to the esata port on the receiver, then power both on, you should be able to at least see the playlist on the old drive. Try playing the programs to see if the OTA recorded ones work.

If everything you recorded is from the satellite, then I dont think I'd bother with it.

 

[dishrich]

I wasnt aware that anyone had broken directv's current encryption scheme, which is still intact on the disk. In any case, it'd be a violation of federal law to do so.

HUH - what does "recovering the content" have anything to do with this???
You could, in theory, send the HD off to an "HD recovery service", who could simply "recover" the data & x-fer it all to a new working HD, that could be dropped back into the (same) receiver it came from.
THAT'S what I believe mitch was eluding to - but as he already said, it's pretty costly to do such a thing. (I know, 'cause I already checked into doing the same thing... )

 

[cfb]

I didnt think thats what he was talking about since the OP stated that the old receiver had already been replaced by directv, but if it was his intention I still doubt its doable.

The directv content is stored as encrypted objects in an XFS database container inside the ext3 file system. Given that the drive may have had bad spots on it, the file system may have been corrupted, and the state of the XFS container may not be viable I think you'd have very little luck even with sophisticated tools and a lot of expertise.

I actually tried to recover a failing drive a few months back, and it was still mostly reading pretty well most of the time, but I had file system corruptions and you really have to be able to read the whole drive to make sure you've collected everything before you can successfully rebuild. If the directv stuff was just a collection of files in a simpler file system you might have a shot at it. I monkeyed with it for 3 days but didnt have any luck at all.

 

[dishrich]

I didnt think thats what he was talking about since the OP stated that the old receiver had already been replaced by directv

Sorry, I did miss the part about the receiver already replaced...

It is correct he's SOL then, since even if the data could be recovered to a new drive somehow, since the OP no longer has the receiver it was recorded in, there's no way to be able to play those encrypted shows.