2.5.1 early results

[cerevant@y...]

ES = Extract Stream/tympeg
SS = SplitStream 0.3
VBR = Variable Bit Rate, called "Save Disk Space" by TiVo.

- The old tivonet modules work fine with 2.5.1, except for the 
version check. The tivonet boot floppy/CD install these with the -f 
(force, ignore version check) flag, so it works without trouble. If 
you are queasy about using the -f flag, there are updated kernel 
modules on Sonnik's web page.
- My 2.0.1 partition was untouched by the upgrade, along with 
the /var partition. I just needed re-apply the tivonet install to 
the new boot partition, and I was golden (I did it manually, but the 
script should work).
- Note that they changed rc.sysinit, so you cannot just copy the old 
one to the new partition.
- ES/SS was able to grok a VBR program reasonably well. There is 
some frame clipping/sync issues (I'm assuming this is caused by the 
bitrate changes) but it works better than I expected. I wouldn't 
recommend recording this way, but if you accidently get something in 
VBR, all is not lost.
- Running SS recursively (nothing I've extracted has ever run to 
completion in SS) on the 30 minute VBR did a good job of throwing out 
the junk (4 sets of files, 2 garbage and 2 other show) and keeping 
the good stuff (2 sets of files).

I'm doing a test recording (CBR) under 2.5.1 to see if it affects 
ES/SS performance - I'll let you know how it goes.

Jeff