# Sorting DirecTV DVR'ed programs



## dannoreilly (Dec 30, 2011)

I'm fairly new to DTV after being a Dish customer for many years. On my DirecTV DVR (H24), is there any way to sort the recorded programs by original air date? I know this info is kept for most programs, and I would love have my favorite series displayed in date order so I can watch forward from season 1, episode 1, etc..

If it matters, I have an external 2TB disk that I record to. I know these are LINUX-based systems, so I'm assuming SOMEBODY out there has done something like this.

Thanks!


----------



## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

dannoreilly said:


> I'm fairly new to DTV after being a Dish customer for many years. On my DirecTV DVR (H24), is there any way to *sort the recorded programs by original air date?* I know this info is kept for most programs, and I would love have my favorite series displayed in date order so I can watch forward from season 1, episode 1, etc..
> 
> If it matters, I have an external 2TB disk that I record to. I know these are LINUX-based systems, so I'm assuming SOMEBODY out there has done something like this.
> 
> Thanks!


No.

Nice idea.


----------



## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

When you bring up recorded shows what order are they? 

In the DirecTiVo they are in folders and all shows are listed by date recorded, with latest at top of list.


----------



## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

dannoreilly said:


> I know this info is kept for most programs, and I would love have my favorite series displayed in date order so I can watch forward from season 1, episode 1, etc..


If you're recording first run shows and they were recorded in order, this is already programmed. Go to the Playlist, highlight your series folder and then (from the manual):


> Press PLAY on a series to play all the episodes in the folder, in order from oldest to newest.


----------



## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Jerry_K said:


> When you bring up recorded shows what order are they?
> 
> In the DirecTiVo they are in folders and all shows are listed by date recorded, with latest at top of list.


DATE recorded works for many series, but date first aired is sometimes required for catchup or glitches.

I just use IMDB.com to be sure.


----------



## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

Thanks. I did not think they would just be in a jumbled mess.


----------



## sonofcool (Dec 23, 2007)

Drucifer said:


> No.
> 
> Nice idea.


+1


----------



## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Yes it is a nice idea, but would have to rely on proper tagging of the shows. Since even original broadcasts are not always tagged right, re-runs are many times more problematical. 

I do recommend IMDB.com for those shows, such as Homeland, where order of viewing is critical. Sitcoms, not so much.


----------



## sonofcool (Dec 23, 2007)

Laxguy said:


> I do recommend IMDB.com for those shows, such as Homeland, where order of viewing is critical. Sitcoms, not so much.


Thanks for the imdb.com pointer. I always thought of this as a movie site. The TV show information is very helpful.


----------



## Jive Turkey (Sep 6, 2011)

Another great website for show order is epguides.com. To me it is much easier to find what you are looking for (since we are talking about show order) than IMDB.


----------



## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Jerry_K said:


> Thanks. I did not think they would just be in a jumbled mess.


You know what? I wouldn't even care how jumbled a mess they are if they would _*just let us search for folders (and already-recorded program titles) using the smart search. *_What a concept! That would be much friendlier than the options available now and cut the button presses down by about 80%.

It took them close to forever to realize how idiotic they were being by sorting episode titles inside a folder alphabetically, and once they finally did change that to keeping the stuff inside the folder in order by reverse air date the "sort by alpha" options finally began to make a little more sense than they ever had before. They are now almost usable. Of course they still cant figure out how to exclude "A" and "The" from alpha searches, which is just embarrassing.

But I still think the order of the shows within a folder should be reversed so that the oldest ep is on the top. If you think about it (a trick they seem incapable of doing on their own) 99% of folks viewing either scripted or reality shows would prefer to watch them in the serial order they were broadcast in, because there is either a mild or a very strong element of seriality in 90% of the shows out there, and in 95% of the viewings out there (the seriality is stronger in more-popular shows). Very few shows are so purely episodically contained that it would not matter what order they were viewed in, and 0% of viewers want to watch them in the order they are presented to us inside the folders currently.* Zero. Per Cent.*

So throw us a bone, and flip the order so that when I open the folder I don't have to scroll through nineteen newer eps of _Burn Notice_ just to get to the next one in serial order. We're busy people; we have better things to do than unnecessary thumb exercises. It's a complete no-brainer. Just do it. Anything else (having it the way it is now) is just ergonomic insanity.

Consider how easy life would be if DTV would just embrace those two simple little concepts:

On the playlist, put smart search in the top half; either replace the PIP with it or put a button there for "Smart Search" that changes the top half of the playlist into a smart search area replacing the PIP and episode summary for that moment. I select "B", then "U". This narrows down my playlist to one folder, for _Burn Notice_, and the folder is already open and the top episode (the OLDEST one recorded) is already selected. One more click and away we go.

So how difficult is that? And where's Steve Jobs when we really need him?


----------



## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

TiVo has newest topmost and that is the way we like it. What was recorded tonight is ready to watch without scrolling down. What would be nice for folks like you and I might be a toggle kind of like how all selling websites allow you to list a bunch of products. Cheapest to most expensive or the other way round. So for you oldest topmost and for me newest topmost.


----------



## Laxguy (Dec 2, 2010)

Jerry_K said:


> TiVo has newest topmost and that is the way we like it. What was recorded tonight is ready to watch without scrolling down. What would be nice for folks like you and I might be a toggle kind of like how all selling websites allow you to list a bunch of products. Cheapest to most expensive or the other way round. So for you oldest topmost and for me newest topmost.


We have that. Title, A-Z or vice-versa, or Date, choice of newest or oldest sort order.

[That says nothing about sorting via original air date!]


----------



## Jerry_K (Oct 22, 2006)

Soon I will know all the above. HR34 and HR24 being set up by dealer in the parking lot along with an RV dish and all associated bits and pieces. Will get it shipped to me soon.

Wife is OK with the change so far.


----------

