Walker File format

daphil

Got a Walker WP3295led recently and am quite happy with it, but it records to a USB stick in a version of the .rec file format which I can not open with VLC, Media Player Lite Streamclip etc. Does anyone know of any way to open,(and convert), these files on a pc,
Thanks
Daphil

Johnboy1951

daphil wrote: »

Got a Walker WP3295led recently and am quite happy with it, but it records to a USB stick in a version of the .rec file format which I can not open with VLC, Media Player Lite Streamclip etc. Does anyone know of any way to open,(and convert), these files on a pc,
Thanks
Daphil

Can you make a 10+ sec recording available?

Those without Walker boxes could then check the file .....

daphil

Sorry unable to open files
Main Folder created is DVD
This opens to
Recs, (ie recordings)
Recs info
Storage
Info

Last 3 folders offer no extra info.

Recs opens to,
6 files
All numbers,
2014010323252401.rec. ifo (.ifo) 4kb
2014010323252401.rec.meta 72 KB
2014010323252401.rec_part0 .99Gb
2014010323252401.rec_part1 .99GB
2014010323252401.rec_part2 .99GB
2014010323252401.rec_part3 216MB.
Have tried all the files that should open .rec files, but to no avail.
Thanks
Dave

Johnboy1951

Record for 10 to 20 secs, locate the file/s and make available .....

Can't do?

daphil

No sorry, cant do anything with it.
Thanks anyway.

daphil

Johnboy,
Just found a similar file online at
https://app.box.com/s/gbwy0ktaiopv1j1r4z4y

STB

There is a thread a few posts down about another Walker box that has chunk files. This seems slightly different.

Those REC files. Have you tried renaming one of them .TS and playing them in VLC ?

daphil

That does not work either. Not sure why they make it so difficult. All I want to do is put some Saorview programs on a USB stick and play it at the week-end when I head to West Cork. Interestingly, my TV in West Cork is also a Walker, but no good.

Johnboy1951

daphil wrote: »

Johnboy,
Just found a similar file online at
https://app.box.com/s/gbwy0ktaiopv1j1r4z4y

It appears that video file is encrypted .....

General
ID : 1101 (0x44D)
Complete name : 2012101612030201
Format : BDAV
Format/Info : Blu-ray Video
File size : 68.8 MiB
Duration : 2mn 39s
Overall bit rate mode : Variable
Overall bit rate : 3 608 Kbps

Video
ID : 256 (0x100)
Menu ID : 1101 (0x44D)
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Codec ID : 27
Encryption : Encrypted

Audio
ID : 257 (0x101)
Menu ID : 1101 (0x44D)
Format : AAC
Format/Info : Advanced Audio Codec
Codec ID : 17
Compression mode : Lossy
Language : Portuguese
Encryption : Encrypted

Menu
ID : 272 (0x110)
Menu ID : 1101 (0x44D)
Duration : 2mn 39s
List : 32 (0x20) () / 256 (0x100) (AVC) / 257 (0x101) (AAC, Portuguese)
Language : / / Portuguese

daphil

Ok thanks, did not spot that,
Dave

Johnboy1951

daphil wrote: »

That does not work either. Not sure why they make it so difficult. All I want to do is put some Saorview programs on a USB stick and play it at the week-end when I head to West Cork. Interestingly, my TV in West Cork is also a Walker, but no good.

If you can copy the whole directories maybe the box will play the video correctly from the USB stick?

Grats

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

If you can copy the whole directories maybe the box will play the video correctly from the USB stick?

I had a similar problem with the Walker combo box. Tried everything suggested by posters but no luck. Wrote to Walker today asking them to confirm the encryption issue and to see if there is a way around it.

STB

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

It appears that video file is encrypted .....

And the audio. I thought it was an Irish terrestrial recording when I saw the Walker name, but its actually a recording of TVI HD, Portugal off satellite. The encryption is in the stream. This is becoming the norm now with satellite HD broadcasts accross Europe, at the request of rights holders.

@ the OP. You cannot point to a similar file on the net. The encryption is sent in the stream for that Portugeese HD channel. Every recording will be different depending on what is in the stream. If it is HD it is likely to be protected.

And sadly from v2.11 of the spec from 2011 onwards, HD flagging in the transport stream protects the broadcast from playing outside the box/tv.

Saorview Spec with HDCP wrote:

The HDCP must be on (enabled or activated) in the signal within the HDMI-link out of the IRD for
services in case of any following alternatives:
• if any of service’s components has copyright flag in Transport Stream (TS) or Packetised
Elementary Stream (PES) header is set on (‘1’) and/or
• if signalled as must be on via PSI/SI descriptor in PMT as specified in NorDig specification
and/or
• if signalled as a must be on via CA-system as specified in NorDig specification.
If any of the above alternatives request the HDCP must be on, then the service is here referred to
as a ‘protected’ service.

Ask 2RN about what they are doing in this regard:)

STB

Grats wrote: »

I had a similar problem with the Walker combo box. Tried everything suggested by posters but no luck. Wrote to Walker today asking them to confirm the encryption issue and to see if there is a way around it.

If the recording is a HD channel, then it sounds quite the same issue even if it is in Chunks. SD recording should not have these copyright protection flags, ie TV3/Tg4/RTE News Now recording should play okay by renaming to .TS.

Johnboy1951

Regardless the protection I would expect the Walker box to be capable of playing the saved file/s from an external drive just as easily as it plays from any internal drive.

In the case of the OP, the requirement is to play the saved video on another Walker box ....... would this not be possible?

Grats

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Regardless the protection I would expect the Walker box to be capable of playing the saved file/s from an external drive just as easily as it plays from any internal drive.

In the case of the OP, the requirement is to play the saved video on another Walker box ....... would this not be possible?

No matter what channel I recorded from it won't play on a PC.

Johnboy1951

Grats wrote: »

No matter what channel I recorded from it won't play on a PC.

That is because of the "protection" system built into the Walker.

One BIG reason to never buy one of those STBs, IMO.

STB

Johnboy1951 wrote: »

Regardless the protection I would expect the Walker box to be capable of playing the saved file/s from an external drive just as easily as it plays from any internal drive.

In the case of the OP, the requirement is to play the saved video on another Walker box ....... would this not be possible?

In case of the latter you are assuming that the receiving box has the same software as the TV (the OP recorded off a TV). They may not. Infact there are several Walker boxes with different DVR implementations (chunk files vs .rec files) which would rule that out.

Even if they did the receiving device would have to be HDCP compliant.

The third and most important issue is that the protection flag is not required for SD content. The software on the problem boxes may have not been configured correctly to handle these transport streams and perhaps prevents all content from being played outisde of the device regardless of having a protection flag or not.

Perhaps Saorview via 2rn can advise if they are flagging content to be protected and if so which, just HD ? If it is the case that only HD content is protected, then Walker need to address this issue of releasing firmware to address issues for non protected SD content. If I recall correctly Humax in the UK had a similar content provision for HD content implementation that carried accross to SD content and a unofficial fix was given on the Hummy forum.

Failing all that maybe some kind soul might help over at futuara - Unofficial Vestel Bug Tracking site.

galwaytt

...was just pointed to this thread now, as I have the same query.

So, all of the stuff on my HDD is useless ? That makes a complete nonsense of recording it at all.......is there any way to output it from the Walker box and re-record it on to something else, in a portable format ?

This is beginning to feel like making '80's "mix tapes" all over again !!

daphil

Lads, got a phone call from a Walker rep this morning, and he said that all recordings are tied to the actual machine it is recorded on. He said he thought is was a copyright issue and were not all TV's/STB's the same.
I mentioned a few that were not, Humax, Ariva and indeed most of the "cheaper" boxes allow you to copy what you want. So unless some coding genius, can come up with a work around, we appear to be stuck.
At least they took the trouble to call me back.

Dave

Grats

daphil wrote: »

Lads, got a phone call from a Walker rep this morning, and he said that all recordings are tied to the actual machine it is recorded on. He said he thought is was a copyright issue and were not all TV's/STB's the same.
I mentioned a few that were not, Humax, Ariva and indeed most of the "cheaper" boxes allow you to copy what you want. So unless some coding genius, can come up with a work around, we appear to be stuck.
At least they took the trouble to call me back.

Dave

Fair play to you. This has been driving me crazy for months. As I said earlier I emailed Walker yesterday but heard nothing back yet. Your post answers it for me now. I have two of the combo boxes which are useless in relation to copying recordings. Back to the 80s for sure!

Johnboy1951

Grats wrote: »

Fair play to you. This has been driving me crazy for months. As I said earlier I emailed Walker yesterday but heard nothing back yet. Your post answers it for me now. I have two of the combo boxes which are useless in relation to copying recordings. Back to the 80s for sure!

Not really ..... only for those unlucky enough to buy this line of devices.

daphil

Just as a footnote,does anyone know what format the Triax TR212S Saorview Set Top Box records in and can the usb containing the recorded programs on other devices?

STB

daphil wrote: »

Lads, got a phone call from a Walker rep this morning, and he said that all recordings are tied to the actual machine it is recorded on. He said he thought is was a copyright issue and were not all TV's/STB's the same.
I mentioned a few that were not, Humax, Ariva and indeed most of the "cheaper" boxes allow you to copy what you want. So unless some coding genius, can come up with a work around, we appear to be stuck.
At least they took the trouble to call me back.

Dave

Hold on a sec Dave. You were given a very short answer and one that would make you go away. The content protection ONLY applies to content that is flagged by the broadcaster. In the majority of cases this will only apply to HD content if at all.

Saorview SD (standard definition) content Tv3, Tg4, RTE News Now, RTE1+1 do not have protection as it is not signalled to the Tv or box. Same goes for SD satellite channels (ITV2 etc) and especially the Saorview ones on 9E.

Therefore the problem lies with the software on these Walker devices that it is not allowing unprotected recordings off the box. They (Walker) need to get in contact with Vestel who manufactured tehse and get a firmware fix released as they are needlessly locking down ALL content.

daphil wrote: »

Just as a footnote,does anyone know what format the Triax TR212S Saorview Set Top Box records in and can the usb containing the recorded programs on other devices?

Stay way from Triax as some of their models are also made by Vestel. Ferguson's do not have any of these limitations. 152 or 252 combos.

STB

daphil wrote: »

Got a Walker WP3295led recently and am quite happy with it, but it records to a USB stick in a version of the .rec file format which I can not open with VLC, Media Player Lite Streamclip etc. Does anyone know of any way to open,(and convert), these files on a pc,
Thanks
Daphil

For the NON HD recordings use this bit of software (applies to REC files only). It will remove the header in the recording and enable it to be played as a ts on a PC using VLC.

http://www.pauljonathan.eclipse.co.uk/

daphil

STB wrote: »

For the NON HD recordings use this bit of software (applies to REC files only). It will remove the header in the recording and enable it to be played as a ts on a PC using VLC.

http://www.pauljonathan.eclipse.co.uk/

How does this work ?
I extracted the files, but when I tried to open it, a "DOS" box (I'm old), appeared for a second then disappeared.
Thanks

Grats

daphil wrote: »

How does this work ?
I extracted the files, but when I tried to open it, a "DOS" box (I'm old), appeared for a second then disappeared.
Thanks

I know the feeling!

zilog_jones

daphil wrote: »

How does this work ?
I extracted the files, but when I tried to open it, a "DOS" box (I'm old), appeared for a second then disappeared.
Thanks

Read the instructions

macwal

Did the OP try converting with Handbrake?

I have a WP95SAT-HD that saves as "chunk.1" "chunk.2" etc approx 2 minutes files.

Previously I just renamed them with an mp4 extension, like "chunk.1.mp4" etc, and they played fine in VLC.

However, a recent recoring on ITV+1, I couldn't play any of the files on VLC, so I processed them through Handbrake, outputting as mp4, and they now work fine in VLC.

daphil

Yeah tried Handbrake as well, nothing worked,
thanks

beauf

Had the same problem with the Alba B660. Recordings would only play on that box.

Grats

I'm surprised that this problem is only coming to light now. The boxes mentioned aren't that new.

Does anybody know which box would do what the Walker combo box does BUT also allow you to watch the recordings on a computer? Bearing in mind that the user isn't a technical expert by any means!

beauf

I think it was discussed previously. But a long time ago, maybe 2yrs ago.

Grats

beauf wrote: »

I think it was discussed previously. But a long time ago, maybe 2yrs ago.

Fair enough. I'm relatively new to the "scene" and posted the problem with this box some months ago. I tried various suggestions to overcome it but no luck. Some posters remarked at the time that they were surprised that many more people with that box hadn't expressed their views. It left me wondering if it was just my own lack of knowledge. Clearly now it is a box issue.

beauf

I've heard tuners on computers have no problem with their files. Not tried it personally.

I expect not many want to do it.

bridster007

daphil wrote: »

Got a Walker WP3295led recently and am quite happy with it, but it records to a USB stick in a version of the .rec file format which I can not open with VLC, Media Player Lite Streamclip etc. Does anyone know of any way to open,(and convert), these files on a pc,
Thanks
Daphil

Daphil

I want to buy this for my parents who will use it for Saorview and Satellite.
Could you tell me if it is just a single button press that is required to switch between the 2 systems ? They need a very simple solution.

And could I setup the Satellite tuning from someone's Sky dish and then bring the tv it direct to my parents to plug and play into their sat feed without going through all the satellite channel tuning/ sorting etc at their house.

Thks

khumbu

bridster007 wrote: »

Daphil

I want to buy this for my parents who will use it for Saorview and Satellite.
Could you tell me if it is just a single button press that is required to switch between the 2 systems ? They need a very simple solution.

And could I setup the Satellite tuning from someone's Sky dish and then bring the tv it direct to my parents to plug and play into their sat feed without going through all the satellite channel tuning/ sorting etc at their house.

Thks

Channel file for Walker TVs with built in satellite tuner available on Walker website:- http://walker.ie/site/downloadFile/158

Some channels may need to be re-tuned if frequency has changed recently. It would be better starting point than blind scan...

Johnboy1951

Just had a quick look at a Walker TV.

Recorded a couple of mins of TV3 ... and four files were saved to the USB stick .....

2014102712103101.ts
2014102712103101B.ADF
2014102712103101B.INF
RECS.INF

It would not record RTE1 or RTE2 telling me there was not sufficient space on the 4GB USB stick.

I tried pausing/timeshift but the file/s disappeared when I shut the TV off.

mediainfo  2014102714103101.ts 

General
Complete name                            : 2014102714103101.ts
File size                                : 3.96 MiB

The .ts is apparently NOT a standard .ts file.



EDIT:

I should have added that the TV refuses to record from the HDMI input.


This is not a TV I would buy if I wanted to record something for later viewing on a different device.
Apparently all Walker products (from reports) are similar in this respect, as well as other Vestel products.

bridster007

khumbu wrote: »

Channel file for Walker TVs with built in satellite tuner available on Walker website:- http://walker.ie/site/downloadFile/158

Some channels may need to be re-tuned if frequency has changed recently. It would be better starting point than blind scan...

Thanks for that. I presume I copy to a USB and just insert it - anything else to do ?