Download from BeyonWiz DP-S1 to PC with WizFX.exe

Since I had a bit of fun setting this up, I thought I'd document it to help others.

It all started because I wanted to create a DivX avi from a recording, one way is to copy the file to removable media and transfer it that way. This is time consuming and effectively locks up the BeyonWiz to only viewing live TV.

Once you have the files on the PC, the issue is the format that the BeyonWiz records in. I tried the "Add-Remove .ts" conversion tool (version 1.3.1), but it failed leaving me with a single ".ts' file with the end of the movie missing and the end of the movie located at the start (may have been other issues)! My guess is that this tool can't handle recordings that have been edited on the BeyonWiz.

Reading forums a bit I found people were using "WizFX" to point to a directory on the PC and convert it to a ".TS" that way. This worked perfectly for me.

I have since found that you can use "WizFX" to download over the LAN and convert to a single ".TS" file in one go. This is also slow but easier! It also doesn't lock up the BeyonWiz and you can use it as per normal operation (watch movies on HD and DVD etc). Hopefully the BeyonWiz will prevent me turning it off during a transfer (but I haven't tested this yet).

My hardware is:

1. LinkSys WRT54GL router with Tomato "1.21" firmware (with MultiCast allowed).
2. Netcomm NP285 HomePlug adapters (ethernet over power) for my remote connection to the BeyonWiz.
3. BeyonWiz DP-S1 on firmware "01.05.261".

Now the hard part was finding the latest version of the tool as the binary available from the "Other" menu (for the "DP-S1") at the BeyonWiz Download Site is only version 1.0.1.4 and I knew that there was a 1.0.1.14 version somewhere. I found it in a zip called "WizFX_src.zip", select "Source Code" in the first control and then choose "WizFX source code" from the "other" menu. This zip contains the binary as well. Note that the exe's file properties do show the version number, but the programs "about" box doesn't (at least for me, it sounds like it does for some people)!

Anyway I also had trouble connecting to the "BeyonWiz" so to begin:

1. Make sure the BeyonWiz is turned on!
2. Make sure you have the "WinPNP" server enabled on the BeyonWiz. Take note of the configured port number.
3. You need to work out or know the BeyonWiz's IP address and you should be able to ping this from the PC.
4. As a final sanity check you can "contact" the server via "http://192.167.1.77:49152/index.txt" in a browser which should respond with some text that lists most of the recorded movies. That url is obviously an example, you should replace "192.167.1.77" with the real IP address of your BeyonWiz and if you have configured a different port you should also change "49152".
5. When you first started the "WizFX.exe" program your software firewall may have prompted you for action. Hopefully you told it this program was a trusted application or at least allowed the request. If you disallowed it you may need to searh this setting out and fix it.
6. Its possible that a (hardware) firewall in your router may give you some fun and mine may have as my "WixFX" can't "discover" the beyonwiz, I don't care I'm happy to set the IP address as I've made sure its static.
7. Programs such as peer guardian could potentially be interfering, close them while you get things working.

At some stage I may use this information supplied to me by others to improve this:

• For WizPnP to work, you have to have more open on the firewall than the connection on the WizPnP port (port 49152 on the Beyonwiz). For the WizPnP device search, the protocol also uses port 1900 on the multicast address 239.255.255.250, and port 1900 on the PC doing the device search.
• As for manually setting up the Wiz IP address, you don't normally need to do that. The WizPNP protocol is quite similar to the standard UPNP protocol where it does a broadcast on the multicast address and gets a response back from the Wiz, and it will tell you the Wiz IP address. I reckon your firewall is still being a bit too aggressive with its settings, anyway, glad you were able to manually add it and get it to work that way.

Now for how to get the program connecting (where auto discovery clearly failing):

1. Click on Favorite
2. Click the "+" icon
3. Type in the IP Address (and port if not default)
4. Press Check Button

You should now be attached with the left pane showing the BeyonWiz info and the right showing the recordings (the the image, top right). You can right click on these recordings to select a download option. I use "Download TS file", this can also be made the default and then you can press the "Download" button.

Once you have a ".TS", it can be converted with "AutoGK", other tips and links:

• Topic: Converting .ts to Divx files
• Topic: Ripping and converting videos from BW
• Site with Lots of information, guides, tools and links (http://www.rita.lt/)