Transfer Recording From Digital TV To Ignite TV

[ianmac3]

Are all my previous program recordings transferred at the installation of Ignite.

***Edited Labels***

[Gdkitty · Accepted solution]

No.
They are two very different types of systems.

On the older regular boxes, they were all recorded LOCALLY on the box itself.
vs on Ignite they are stored at the ROGERS side.

If your boxes are owned, as long as you dont un-plug them, they should stay up and running, enough to be able to do playback of what is on them.

[57]

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@Gdkitty wrote:  If your boxes are owned, as long as you dont un-plug them, they should stay up and running, enough to be able to do playback of what is on them.

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You'll probably need to do more than that. You'll have to disconnect any PVRs from the RF coax feed before calling Rogers to switch.  If you don't any digital boxes you have will likely become deactivated when the Digital Cable Service stops and IgniteTV starts. Of course, you'll also need to leave any PVRs plugged into power, and perhaps on a UPS because they will probably not reboot once you're on Ignite.

It's probably a good idea to watch any digital cable PVR recordings you have before you switch to IgniteTV.

[-G-]

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@Gdkitty wrote:

If your boxes are owned, as long as you dont un-plug them, they should stay up and running, enough to be able to do playback of what is on them.

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Let me add to that: Yes, do not un-plug the power cord but you DO need to ensure that the old PVR's cable connection IS disconnected before your Digital TV service gets cancelled.  If you do not do that second part, your PVR will get de-authorized and you no longer be able to view your recordings.

[ianmac3]

I thank you all for your very helpful info'.

To ask perhaps a silly question, not being expert in these matters, if I am able to keep the nextbox would I be able to play the existing recordings in the Ignite system or would I need a separate system together with a separate TV. 

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@ianmac3 wrote:

I thank you all for your very helpful info'.

To ask perhaps a silly question, not being expert in these matters, if I am able to keep the nextbox would I be able to play the existing recordings in the Ignite system or would I need a separate system together with a separate TV. 

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Digital TV and Ignite TV are incompatible with each other so there is no way to use your old Nextbox with your new Ignite TV service.  Also, don't count on being able to watch recordings on your Nextbox indefinitely.  At some point, Murphy's Law will kick in, the Nextbox will reset, and at that point, you will lose access to anything that has been recorded on it... so, for that reason, I would not pay any money to buy it out if you do not own it already.

Which Nextbox PVR do you currently have?  If it has component video outputs and there are recordings that you really want to keep, you could use something like this to archive those recordings to your computer.

[57]

A few more comments:

1. If you're renting your current PVR, you will need to return it.

2. Theoretically, you could connect the "old" PVR to another set of inputs on the "same" TV.

3. As mentioned several times, don't count on being able to watch recordings once you no longer have digital cable. The PVR will get deauthorized, or reboot, or something that will preclude watching those recordings.  Watch the recordings before you switch. If the recordings have a lot of meaning to you, then you can copy them to a computer as mentioned above, or to a DVD Recorder (in Standard Definition).  Most programming is available somewhere on the web, so it's extremely rare that you cannot view it somewhere (YouTube, etc)

4. I believe that Rogers is still providing a small credit for boxes if you have purchased them.  You can check at the time of order.

[ianmac3]

I thank you again for your info' and advice.

I believe I have Nextbox 3 and have noted a video output connection on the back.

I will do my homework re transferring to DVD and / or computer.

Thanks again.

[mikexp]

I would like to move from nextbox to Ignite as Rogers is charging me quite a bit more per month to keep my NextBox.

They tell me that the box will be rendered useless and my SO will lose her much loved recordings.

I own the nextbox, I purchased it from Rogers.  How is it fair that they would now break it?  Why can they not continue to authorize it on my account?  If this is really not technically possible, should they not unlock it for us so we do not lose our investment?  It's certainly worth more than the $50 credit I've been offered to return it to them.

[57]

@mikexp : Looks like your post may have been added to this existing thread. Please read posts 3, 7, etc. 

Theoretically you could keep your old PVR, however, you'd need to disconnect it from the RF-coax before changing to IgniteTV because it will be deauthorized otherwise and keep it on a UPS because it will not boot once you're on IgniteTV.

The PVR is not worth more than $50 because you can purchase used ones on Kijiji for $40-50 at this time since lots of people have switched to Ignite. A PVR is also a time-shifting device, not an archiving device.

Many programmes are now available online. You could perhaps copy the programming you're interested in to a DVD Recorder, but that would be SD quality.  

[mikexp]

Hmm, I'm not happy about being moved here, it wasn't what I asked.
While it is the records have value to my SO, for me it's fundamentally unethical for rogers to deliberately break something they sold to me. Telco's already lost that legal battle with cell phones - they were forced to unlock them. It's the same again with this PVR.
$50 not sufficient of an incentive for me to forgive them for this - it has me reconsidering my decades of loyalty. And to be frank I don't believe that they can't authorize PVRs - they're choosing not to for business reasons.
I do sympathize with the loss of the recordings. My SO's favorites are not found online, and she won't accept SD quality - I paid for an HD PVR. But it's not the real issue - truth be told, we don't actually own the recordings.

[-G-]

Another option for archiving your recorded content is to use a video capture device, which will allow you to record onto your computer in high definition.  Gamers use these devices as well for capturing and live-streaming their game play.  Unfortunately, it's not easy to find a device that captures component video anymore, and the HDMI video capture options (most likely) will not work if HDCP is enabled on the NextBox.

[Pauly]

PVRs are meant for "Short Term" Recording/Archival of tv shows, they were never meant to keep a show indefinitely or for "long" periods of time, the duration for short term and long term are defined by the cable companies, because pvrs eventually overwrite / delete older recordings and replace them with newer ones, they also break down, they deactivate, they have technical issues, the hard drive gets corrupted.

I get it your shows are important to you, how about invest in a video capture device or a DVD recorder or your own PVR device not affiliated with the cable company? they make them. they are just tricky to setup and cable companies will not assist you with technical issues, but by all means they WORK. I have recorded some "must have" shows of mine onto DVD disc. I even found a way to record them anamorphically so they play back 16x9 on my tv. pretty neat eh?

[Don_Ca]

Note that your PVR on ignite stores to "the cloud" and only does so for 1 year.

[mikexp]

Those all sound like good ideas for transferring recordings.

Not really my issue (and why I don't think this thread was the right home for my question).

My point is it's not right for Rogers to sell equipment that depends on their service, then stop authorizing those devices to render them useless.  Rogers should have found a way to allow us to continue using customer owned equipment when we update our service.

[57]

The 9865 will be 8 years old in 2021 (launched in 2013 by Rogers).  The 8642 and the 8300 are much older.  See the following thread:

https://communityforums.rogers.com/t5/TV/8642HD-really-SLOW-is-this-normal/m-p/416264#M45267

Electronics/Firmware/Software often become outdated/useless in this amount of time, sometimes less, sometimes more.  The PVRs mentioned still function on Rogers Digital cable and probably will for a few more years until the migration to full IPTV (IgniteTV) is complete.  This is amazing for the 8300 since it's over 16 years old and still functioning.  

When service is "updated" (to a newer technology like IPTV/IgniteTV) the previous equipment is useless in a manner similar to changing providers.  It might be possible to have the mentioned Digital Cable PVRs working if you're willing to open a second account for IgniteTV and keep your Digital Cable active, however, you may not like the pricing.  😉

Another reason to "deactivate" older technology is so that the CSRs have to respond to questions about only one technology. It takes a lot more CSRs (added cost) if you have numerous technologies/equipment requiring different technical and pricing responses.

Your post was probably moved to this thread because many of the previous posts discuss how to potentially view recorded programming after the switch to Ignite, or how to transfer recordings.

[-G-]

@mikexp  I sympathize with your situation.  FYI, this is not unique to Rogers.  When I was a Fibe TV customer, I could not even play a recording on my PVR unless my Internet connection was up.  If my Internet connection dropped, I could not watch anything on TV; not live TV, nor could I watch anything on my PVR either because a network connection to the back-end servers was required to unlock any DRM-protected content, and this had to be done every time you played each individual recording stored on the local hard disk.

[mikexp]

Don't get me wrong, I understand why Rogers wants to stop supporting their old equipment.  But they shouldn't *sell* equipment and then render it non-functional.  There was nothing about this in their T&Cs at purchase time.  I'm not complaining about my rented modem nor router, they can have those back.  And my PVR too if it was rented.  But I purchased the PVR from them, I own it, it should be my choice when retire it.

Ideally I'd like for them to make sure equipment they sell remains functional.  I doubt it'll happen and realize I'm wasting my time... but so was talking to the support team.  What did surprise me was not finding any other complaints about this on the community.  I'm the only one annoyed?

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@mikexp wrote:

What did surprise me was not finding any other complaints about this on the community.  I'm the only one annoyed?

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You are not the only one who is annoyed, but my annoyance is with today's Digital Media industry in general.  You cannot even buy a Blu-ray player or set-top box with HD analog outputs anymore.  Every device delivers content over HDMI and HDCP, and you cannot stream digital content to your computer at the highest-available resolution unless the DRM components can verify a trusted, protected media path end-to-end.  The content on many streaming services cannot be viewed on computers running Linux and other open-source software.  This is all in the name of anti-piracy.  However, the pirates can get around these restrictions.  The honest consumers, who support the industry and pay to access digital content legally, that are the ones who experience endless frustration from technical limitations and interoperability issues.

[mikexp]

I feel your frustration :).
To be a bit pedantic, the cases you reference AFAIK are technical and/or T&C restrictions that while inconvenient were
revealed at time of purchase.
My complaint is that rogers *sold* equipment that requires authorization to work but is now withdrawing that authorization. At the very least they should unlock the equipment so we can use it as we see fit, esp if they've decided not to support it.

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@mikexp wrote:
...is now withdrawing that authorization. 

...Annoyed...

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But they haven't (yet).  You can still use it with Digital Cable (probably for a few years yet).  If you switch to IPTV it's the same as switching providers because it's a totally different technology.  We have advised you earlier in this thread how you can keep it "running" for a while, even in the event you change to IgniteTV, or transfer the programming to other devices...  Rogers stopped selling these units years ago and only allowed rentals since that time, probably in anticipation of just your "complaint". 

Of course everyone is annoyed when something they purchased no longer functions as they want, however, this obsolescence is happening in many facets of life today.  As for T&Cs, there may not even have been any at time of sale.  There are Terms of Service which allow Rogers to cancel services provided they give you 30 days notice.

h. Can Rogers cancel my Services and when does cancellation take effect? Rogers may cancel any or all of your Services or accounts and any corresponding Agreement, as long as we give you at least 30 days’ prior written notice... 

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https://www.rogers.com/cms/pdf/en/Rogers-Terms-of-Service-Acceptable-Use-Policy-and-Privacy-Policy-e...