iPod video knockoff for $25 - possible tivo accessory

[rc3105]

iPod video knockoff (http://www.hasbro.com/objects/products/print.cfm?product_id=18617) for $25 - possible tivo accessory (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessory_(legal_term))

http://www.hasbro.com/common/images/products/7689923d4c18_main400.jpg

http://camerahacks.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=4681&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

picked one of these up the other day and it looks like there's a LOT of potential.

anybody else feel like investigating? ;)


*I allready have one recording analog video from the cablebox and importing it into the hdtivo :D

[cheer]

I scanned the thread you linked to. Looks interesting, although at that resolution I expect its usefulness will be limited.

Maybe I'll go get one and play.

[rc3105]

the screen isn't great compared to an ipod, digicam or camcorder lcd


on the other hand... http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/rc3105/Hpim2023s.jpg (http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/rc3105/)

the munchkin should enjoy cartoons, sesame street (COOKIE!!!) & such in the carseat. fortunately there's a headphone jack so innocent bystanders won't have to listen to Barney, Blues Clues or a Brief History of Time

gonna attach another one to the crib and load it up with lullabies

I'm allready liking it for podcasts, audiobooks & stand-up comedy ;)


won't break the bank like a real ipod would if it's ruined or lost


once usb drivers are working I'll have to whip up a tivoweb module to auto-sync cartoons & such


edit: if you peel the stickers off and remove the usb port cover it becomes last year's VUGO (http://vugo.com/vugo.php) without the brain-dead-encrypted-straightjacket-drm. definatly a toy, still pretty neat for the money

[cheer]

Ah, yes...as my kids are already at the age where they're toting their own iPod video units, that didn't occur to me. Hmm...might be cool for my grandson.

[JJBliss]

OK. You got me. Walmart online is out of stock, but I'll check with a B&M by the house.

I'll screw around with one.

Let's see what happens.......

[skellum]

I'm allready liking it for podcasts, audiobooks & stand-up comedy ;)



so you have the video format figured out? I looked at the file on my SD card and have no idea what the encoding is or what format video needs to be converted to in order to play on the tvnow.

was hoping to copy cartoons off my series1 onto SD so the kids can watch w/o tying up the big tv...

[rc3105]

not yet, I automated the pc_playback -> tvnow_capture process and have been building a library of watchables and samples to dissect

mplayer plays about 1/3 of the recordings w/o help so the format shouldn't be that hard to puzzle out when there's some free time to tinker...

[rustbucket]

i have a tv now does anyone know how to make your own tvv files on the computer . if anyone has any tvv file cartoons saved to there computer would you e-mail them to me for the kids . hacking this thing does not seem to be easy and recording live takes too long . thanks for any help .

[blanham]

I got my TvNow to play converted video and audio.

First I used the VuGo software from VuGo.com to make a .tvv (or .tvm) file

Then I used the xvi32 hex editor to change the first four bytes from TVNW to WONT and bytes 21,22,and 23 to TVR for video (tvv) or TAR for audio (TVM) It should work.

I have noticed that the video audio sync is not to great

[rc3105]

I got my TvNow to play converted video and audio.

First I used the VuGo software from VuGo.com to make a .tvv (or .tvm) file

Then I used the xvi32 hex editor to change the first four bytes from TVNW to WONT and bytes 21,22,and 23 to TVR for video (tvv) or TAR for audio (TVM) It should work. Notepad should work as well

I have noticed that the video audio sync is not to great
confirmed, almost...

with WONT at locations 0,1,2,3 - TVR should be at bytes 20,21,22

[blanham]

confirmed, almost...

with WONT at locations 0,1,2,3 - TVR should be at bytes 20,21,22

Yeah, that's right. I forgot that some editors start with the first byte as zero, XVI32 has the first byte as number one.

[AE2012]

I also have a TVNow player. I purchased it to see if it might be used as an inexpensive mp3 player. I was hoping to find more info on the internet about people who have hacked into this little device. I found very little. So I started poking around a little myself. Here is my two cents worth.


Platform: Fedora Core 5

1. Downloaded the MacOS software package VuGo1.0.2.1.pkg.zip (3.3MB) from the VuGo website www.vugo.com

2. Unzipped VuGo1.0.2.1.pkg.zip which yielded a directory of VuGo1.0.2.1.pkg
unzip VuGo1.0.2.1.pkg.zip

3. Uncompressed the file Archive.pax.gz located in VuGo1.0.2.1.pkg/Contents/
gunzip Archive.pax.gz

4. The system identifies the resulting file Archive.pax as a CIPO Archive. Extracted the files.
cpio -idv < Archive.pax

5. There is now a directory called vugo.app This is where the software seems to reside. Specifically in vugo.app/Contents/Resources/Java This application requires Java 1.4 Perhaps if this is strictly a Java program, it could be repackaged for other systems e.g. Linux/Windows.

6. Of particular interest is vugo.app/Contents/Resources/Java/vugo.jar I viewed the contents of vugo.jar using Konqueror (the file browser) in Fedora Core 5. It gave a nice tree listing of the contents, including sections labeled drm, encode, decode, and usb. Each section lists their respective .class files and some .lib files. Unfortunately there is little source code.

7. But there is SOME source code in vugo.jar Interestingly enough there is a file enc.c and dec.c And yes they deal with encoding and decoding. Did not see header files for them though.

8. Now looking through the file enc.c a particular line of code stuck out.
int TVNowEncoder(int *iInBuf, int *iOutBuf, int iDSize, int iMode);
//Function from the MICOM library

From the MICOM library? This is my best guess at the company behind the library.
http://www.micomtech.com.hk/reference.htm

I found it interesting that the function is called TVNowEncoder since this is the software package for the VuGo. It's not like this software package was ever ment to be used with a TVNow Recorder with it's disabled USB port and all. I still hope someone figures out how to get the USB port opened up.

Well this is as far as I got. Since my programming skills are a bit rusty I'm not sure how much more I will find out, but maybe this will give someone else a place to start.

[rustbucket]

Ae2012 You Seem To Be Our Only Hope At Cracking This Thing So Far
Ive Not Had Any Luck Figureing Out How To Hack It . Keep Up The Good Work Maybe We Well Figure Out Something

[CheaterAdams]

I picked up one of these in hopes to use to record video from a wireless camera that I am installing in an RC helicopter. I found the USB port after prying off its plastic plug. It seems though that the plug was cemented (the dingdongs) in the port and part of it is stuck inside it. I am trying to pick it out but I am afraid I am going to damage the contacts.

I know that this is not as technical as some of the previous posts (which I am sure will be very helpful, if...), but has anyone else experienced this, and if so what did you do?

Thanks.

[CheaterAdams]

I have managed to remove the plug from USB port by applying a commercial CyanoAcrylic unbinding agent. However, the contacts are not free and do not stand up enough to contact the plug when inserted. Oh well, I guess I will have to use the memory card for transferring video files. I have successfully converted an AVI to TVV format and played it on the TvNow.

Has anyoine been able to convert a TVV file to another standard format?

Thanks

[xless]

Hi all,

I'm trying to use the VuGo app, dloaded from Hasbro, but it's insisting on registering a VoGo device before letting me in (via a USB connection). Any way around this?

Thanks!

[xless]

Found my own answer here (http://camerahacks.10.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=2279).

When I installed the desktop application on Windows XP, it created registry key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hasbro\VuGo Desktop Application entry:
(default) REG_SZ (value not set)
Firmware1 REG_SZ (blank)
Path REG_SZ C:\Program Files\Hasbro\VuGo Desktop Application
VuGoID1 REG_SZ 458687537

After much hair-pulling, I finally found an mpeg which the desktop app would recognize and convert -- or so I thought. Once I transferred it to the tvnow (after the hex edits), it played only a few seconds of video before it stuttered and switched to audio only. So much for that. I bought four of them thinking this was the steal of a lifetime, but at this point I'll return all but one and hope someone comes up with a solution to encoding videos which doesn't depend on the vugo app, or live capture.

I do appreciate the time others have put into this. I was flying with just myself and my 2yo son a couple of weeks ago, and I decided to transfer some (tame, 80's) music videos on to my cell phone to distract him in case of a pending meltdown. Worked like a charm. A little too well -- now all I hear is "daddy's phone! daddy's phone!". This tvnow device would be perfect for him. It seems like it could take a little abuse, and I won't cry if it does get trashed.

BTW - I found these at a Walmart (Dublin, OH) for $15 in the toy clearance section. Three of the four should be back there sometime tomorrow.

[rustbucket]

cheater adams how did you convert the avi to tvv format id like to learn how

[CheaterAdams]

rustbucket,

Sorry for the late response, haven't been here for a little while.

Here are the directions I used.

First I used the VuGo software to make a .tvv (or .tvm) file

Then use a hex editor (e.g. xvi32) to change the first four bytes from TVNW to WONT and bytes 21,22,and 23 to TVR for video (tvv) or TAR for audio (TVM) It should then work on the player.

[rustbucket]

i still have not got the vugo software to work i tried pluging up my tvnow through the mini usb to trick the software but it didnt work for me .

[CheaterAdams]

I have not been able to use the USB either. I removed the plug, but the contacts are not exposed enough for complete continuity through the USB cable. I simply use a card reader and copy the converted files to the SD card.

I assume you are able to run the software?

[nyuk1998]

I've converted a few avi files to tvv successfully. My question is, has anyone converted a full length movie yet? I've tried and it was taking a long time, so I hit cancel.