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  1. Member
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    An Alpha version of IsoBuster 4.4 contains a new feature. I'm not the author of the program but helped test it.

    I noticed that in May 2018 a few people discussed whether this was possible and thought it would be of interest.

    The software reads the file system of the Toshiba RD-XS32, 34, 35, 52, 54, 55 or KX50 and XS34SB (UK) and XV34SJ (JPN) recorders and will extract recordings. This version is unreleased at this time and is seeking additional feedback and comments.

    I've posted a video of the process https://youtu.be/3ijVzgUiyQg.
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  2. Member hech54's Avatar
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    There are similar tools available for the older LG/Medion recorders. The machines look very similar, and it's just the file system that is odd....no "encryption" involved. Straight MPEG2 files.
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    It is true the system is not encrypted, but there are a few twists in the file system and allocation data. Thanks for the information however, looking at other brands has been a topic of discussion.
    Last edited by jwillis84; 7th Feb 2019 at 15:27.
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  4. Member DB83's Avatar
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    Just curious.

    Was that drive still recognised by the DVD-recorder when it was put back in ? That is all the recordings still available. Sure I read somewhere that re-inserted drives became necessary to configure and thus lose the recordings.
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  5. Member DB83's Avatar
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    One other thing.

    It's a dvd-recorder. So there is a much more straight forward way to transfer recordings to a PC. And I am not referring to capture (although that is also an option)
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    The Toshiba's all recognize the drives when reinserted.

    In fact the Toshiba's are cross model compatible, a drive with recordings from a previous model were recognized and presented and playable on a newer model. The storage format was fairly consistent. I never recognized any variance from the oldest to the newest models.

    The issue with using DVDs are, slower than EIDE, media is getting harder to find, and spare parts for replacing burned out DVD burners.

    I've been questioned a number of times about, why do I have to remove the hard drive?, aren't there other options? - answer, yes there are, even wireless options.. but the demo was meant to be short and understandable.
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  7. Member Seeker47's Avatar
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    Originally Posted by jwillis84 View Post
    The Toshiba's all recognize the drives when reinserted.

    In fact the Toshiba's are cross model compatible, a drive with recordings from a previous model were recognized and presented and playable on a newer model. The storage format was fairly consistent. I never recognized any variance from the oldest to the newest models.
    All of which is probably not the case with the Pioneer DVDRs, I'm guessing ? I'm interested mainly on an informational basis, and the first post caught my attention because I've had an Isobuster license for quite some time.
    When in Las Vegas, don't miss the Pinball Hall of Fame Museum http://www.pinballmuseum.org/ -- with over 150 tables from 6+ decades of this quintessentially American art form.
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  8. Member hech54's Avatar
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    As with my Medion, removing the HDD is the easier way. The burners are even more proprietary that the HDDs.
    My Medion IDE setup is much more delicate than this Toshiba setup.
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  9. Member
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    Pioneers do require a "Service Remote" to authorize tainted or unrecognized hard drives when returned to the recorder. One of the benefits of IsoBuster however is that it does not rely on "mounting" the drive by Windows, there is no "Initialization" step which likely would taint the drive. Tainted drives, even if authorized are usually also damaged and require re-initializing the drive.

    I have not done any testing, but.. it has been reported a drive moved from one Pioneer to another if undamaged, and not erased.. would present and play recordings made on a different recorder of the same model once authorized.
    Last edited by jwillis84; 9th Feb 2019 at 07:06.
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  10. Member
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    I believe even if you just remove the HDD from a Panasonic, upon hooking it back up it wants to force you into reformatting the drive. I believe there is a procedure floating around where you can bypass the forced reformat but I've never tried it. Sounds like the Toshibas are one of the friendlier brands for removing the HDD, I just may have to fire up my XS35 and start using it to record. I've had it shelved it for many years because even though it makes excellent recordings(up to about 2hrs 19 min/SL DVD when it switches to 1/2 D1 resolution) even slightly better than my Panasonics, I was worried I'd fill up the HDD and then the fragile DVD would crap out, leaving my recordings stranded. I still prefer my Panasonics for longer recordings where I feel I can get about 2hrs 42 min/SL DVD. True on a '05 or newer Panasonic you can get up to 4hrs or 240min of full D1 resolution, much more than 2.7hrs I feel the macroblocking becomes somewhat noticeable.
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  11. Member
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    Long recordings have been extracted from Tosh RD-XS hard drives successfully. Recording speed doesn't matter when extracting the recording.. use XP at D1 for everything. You could burn them to larger PC optical disc format like Blu-Ray with something like ImgBurn without even needing to author a Blu-Ray menu structure. I don't know a lot about Blu-Ray but it seems the 'virtual machine' for the menus has been largely abandoned by many standalone Blu-Ray players, more and more default to presenting recordings as simple text lists the user can choose, if there is no menu. Its also faster at loading since all it has to do is list the recordings. The RD-XS recorders permit fine control over their inputs and outputs with a built-in type of proc amp for each. The DVD burners were in an evolutionary period and somewhat unstable or unreliable but were always their weak point. By-passing the DVD media burners the rest of the recorders components are top knotch.

    I don't know a lot about Panasonics, but since they are still actively in development, and still coming out with Blu-Ray and DVD recorders.. they are a moving target to support. With over 20 years of different lineups, simply figuring out if your talking about the same line of recorders is very difficult.. let alone what is actually inside of them. -- but that's not to say I'd never look at them

    I can also say, even if you "zero" wipe the entire HDD from a Toshiba recorder, reinserting it you "do" have to reformat it.. but you don't need a service remote. So even in the worst case you "might" loose the ability to replay recordings on the recorder if you damage the HDD while its in the PC. But then you can put it back into a PC and copy off the rest of the recordings and back them up to DVD or Blu-Ray.. so you have a recoverable position.
    Last edited by jwillis84; 10th Feb 2019 at 19:54.
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