[mythtv-users] import / export between systems

[Michael T. Dean]

On 06/16/2013 07:53 AM, Greg Cope wrote:
> I have setup a new Mythtv system with a view to moving my old 
> recordings to it.  I have done this in the past by mounting the drive 
> with all my recordings, and then just restoring the DB and running 
> mythsetup that then promptly upgrades it.
>
> However as my old system stopped recording some channels we have 
> recordings on both.
>
> How can I export recordings from new, trash the new one and import 
> from old, upgrade mythversion/db, and then re-import the new recordings?
>
> Not sure a DB backup/restore will work as doing the 2nd import will 
> blat the older (upgraded) data.
>
> Pretty sure there used to be a away of exporting the dbdata and files 
> and then reimporting them?
>
> Ideas?

Best bet is to put the recordings from one system into Video Library.

Use mythlink.pl to create useful file names ( 
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/MythVideo_File_Parsing ), and then put the 
videos into the directories under your Videos Storage Group.

And, if you actually plan to do more than watch and delete those 
episodes, move other episodes of the series from the other MythTV system 
into Video Library, too.  Video Library is much better for organizing 
and finding and managing video than is Watch Recordings--because Video 
Library lets you organize it the way you want.  And, now that Video 
Library has better metadata support than Watch Recordings--for both 
movies and TV--it's a great place to put any large collection of video, 
even if most of the videos are recordings made by this system.

Basically, Video Library is for user-managed video; Watch Recordings is 
for storing recordings made by this MythTV system until they're watched 
and deleted or until they're archived to a more-appropriate location 
(such as Video Library).  See:

http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/519758#519758
and
http://www.gossamer-threads.com/lists/mythtv/users/519996#519996

Mike