Documentation

TVSync - TV on legs

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This utility will automatically transfer video files of TV series (such as those downloaded from Bittorrent) into iTunes for transfer onto an iPod/iPhone.

Whenever the utility is run, episodes from the configured shows will be converted to an iPod-compatible format, and imported into iTunes. The utility will do its best to set the correct metadata, including setting the items as type 'TV Show', and downloading episode titles from IMDB if it can't be found from the filename.

The utility keeps track of transferred episodes. Each time, it will transfer the episode after the last transferred episode, remembered internally.

After installing, this utility will be added to the cron scheduler, to be run every half hour. The applications FFmpeg (from ffmpegX distribution) and AtomicParsley will be installed into /usr/local/bin.

What to do after installing

You can configure what shows to transfer, how many episodes to have in your library at one time, and paths to search for episodes. Settings can be edited at the top of the file "Transfer TV Shows.sh" in Library/Scripts. This file should open automatically after installation.

Make sure you remove the top disabling line in the file when you edit it, to begin using it.

If you don't want to wait until the next scheduled run (in half an hour or so), you can run the script manually - open up Terminal, and type:

~/Library/Scripts/Transfer\ TV\ Shows.sh

Remote transfers

This utility can also operate remotely - run it on a dedicated 'downloader' machine, and it will automatically transfer newly retrieved episodes onto your personal computer (which is hooked up to your iPod/iPhone). This is great when used with an automatic Bittorrent downloader, such as TVShows used in conjunction with Transmission.

If you wish to operate remotely, install this utility on the 'downloader' machine. Then, on that machine, open the script "~/Library/Scripts/Transfer TV Shows.sh" and set 'Target' to 'ssh user@host' - replace user and host with the username and hostname/IP address of the computer to transfer episodes to (the computer hooked up to the iPod/iPhone).

Next, because the utility uses SSH to transfer files and perform actions, you need to enable SSH access, and generate a key and authorise it on the target machine.   First, you need to enable Remote Login on the target computer. Open System Preferences, go to Sharing, and enable Remote Login. Note down the address that can be used to log in.

On the source computer, open the Terminal application, and type:

   ssh-keygen -t rsa

Keep pressing enter in reply to all questions until it's finished. Then, replacing 'user' and 'host' with the username and address you noted down from the target computer:

   cat ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub | ssh user@host cat \>\> .ssh/authorized_keys

This time, you'll need to enter the password for the remote computer.

Now, try logging in to the target, replacing user and host again:

   ssh user@host

If all went well, you should be logged in without having to enter a password - you can hit Ctrl-D or type 'exit' to logout, and all is well. If you were still prompted for a password, type it in, then, logged into the remote computer, type:

   chmod 700 .ssh

Log out with Ctrl-D or type 'exit'. It should be working now.

If AtomicParsley is available on the target machine, this utility will attempt to find out what the latest episode in the target library is, and will transfer the following one. Put AtomicParsley either in the path (eg. /usr/local/bin), in the Library/Scripts/bin directory, or just install TVSync on the destination computer as well.

Uninstalling

To remove the utility's schedule, open the Terminal application and type the following:

crontab -l | grep -v 'Transfer\\ TV\\ Shows.sh' | crontab