SamyGO

Damn... What if I mount a suitable structure on top of the usb mount point? I think I'll need to try for myself... Thanks!

I have an idea that just might work. Free space is reported by the filesystem, right? What if we try this:
1. Prepare a large usb as recording device
2. Clone the filesystem to an image file
2.5 If it's not big enough create a new large-enough image with dd, write the cloned image in the beginning and use extgrowfs (or whatever it's called) to extend the filesystem.
3. Copy the first x MB of the image to the small usb drive. The value of x needs to be discovered so that the filesystem seems intact.
4. Plug in the small usb (or convert to gadget?) and hopefully the tv will see it as a pvr device (by the way, how does the tv recognise a pvr device? Files on it, uuid?). Next do the symlink/mount trick on the network.

So, is my train of thought completely crazy, or is there a chance in hell?

I have a 32MB SD card that I'd like to use as a recording device

Also another idea - if you have a reasonable-sized usb drive (2-4GB) and you do the symlink trick you'd be limited in recording time only per "episode" - e.g. you could record a maximum of 4GB, but once that recording is done the disk does not gain in size (you could record as many 4GB shows as you want, but you can't record a 5GB show, right?)

mad_ady wrote:Also another idea - if you have a reasonable-sized usb drive (2-4GB) and you do the symlink trick you'd be limited in recording time only per "episode" - e.g. you could record a maximum of 4GB, but once that recording is done the disk does not gain in size (you could record as many 4GB shows as you want, but you can't record a 5GB show, right?)

I think yes. But I think your first idea was much better Also maybe zoe develops libCheatUSBSize.so

Hi guys! I'm back
I've played a bit with recording on a NFS share. Here are my findings so far:

1. I moved the CONTENT folder from the PVR device to CONTENT.orig. I created a symlink called CONTENT pointing to my NFS share: I moved my old recordings to the network share and recording new stuff.

The good news:
* The new recordings were recorded without issues. On the network share! Yay!
* I experimented with free space on the PVR device. For example, if you have ~250MB free it will complain when starting a recording (aparently if it believes it will take more space than what's available), but will continue to record without issues. Apparently available space is checked when recording starts. I was able to record more than I had space for on the NFS share and recording never stopped, which is great

The bad/weird news:
* If I want to review recordings, I can still see what's under CONTENTS.orig. I can play that back without issues, but I can't see the new recordings that are accessible via the CONTENTS symlink. Here's what I mean - this happens when starting an older recording:
The new recordings are not visible, but...
* I can play back a recording from NFS share if I quickly press "Play" when the recording ends (in the popup) and after this that recording will be visible in the file browser (and playable):
* Weird, apparently, after pressing Play the first time subsequent recordings are visible and playable in the file browser. Strange...

I'll play with it some more, but it seems that it might not take too much hacking to work reliably.

@sectroyer: I have a question - after the TV is first rooted, do you still need a physical recording device? Or can you reliably root every time without it? If you don't need it specifically, we could experiment with the virtual USB PVR device. Otherwise we'll just use a small USB instead... I'll try with my 32MB SD card next time

mad_ady wrote: @sectroyer: I have a question - after the TV is first rooted, do you still need a physical recording device?

OF COURSE

Thanks for the reply. I'll skip the virtual USB research then. I'll release a more detailed howto when I'm done.

@mad_Ady: did you get it working reliably?

@fraglord: I haven't played with it in a while, but yes, it works just fine. Last recording I did was on 1st March.

When I have some time I plan on playing with it some more so that I can remove the physical USB (or at least use a small one instead). But for now the symlink trick works reliably. Give it a try

Make final tutorial and we will release