Status

• done

DISCLAINER

THIS HOWTO DOES nOT COVER THE STEALING OF DIRECTV PROGRAMMING. I want to help you make your Tivo better. If you want more channels then call Directv.

Introduction

Tivo hacking has been around for a while. These days (5/2/2007) instructions seem to be scattered around the internet. It seems that people also want you to buy upgrades that have everything done for you. Well I'm going to give you step by step instructions.

The DVR40 is a series 2 Directv Tivo. These are the Tivos I have. On the other hand the hacking information here should work with all series 2 Tivos. However I have not tested any other Tivos.

Hooking up that new Tivo

Well we're going to make it like new. Go into the setup menu and reset the Tivo to factory defaults. Hook it up and be sure it is receiving the DTV signal ok. Next call DTV and set it up. Be sure to make the call homee as well.

So now you are watching your favorite Directv programming.

Getting the Software

Download the following item. The iso contains everything you need. Burn the iso to a CD. I modified the CD to include the extra items.

TivoBoot.iso.zip

Upgrading the Tivo hard drive

I'm sorry but 35 hours isn't enough. I'm upgrading my Tivo with a 160GB hard drive. Choose whatever size makes you happy. This is how we are also protecting our investment. Save the original hard drive. This is your virgin image. Don't hack your original drive.

Removing the Original Hard Drive From Your Tivo

Currently I'm not going to cover the detailes here. Take apart your Tivo and remove the hard drive. This is your golden master. When we're done save it for future use.

Setting up your PC

We are going to be booting from a live linux CD. During this process the hard drive in your PC will be disconnected. An old pc with a cdrom drive and no hard drives will work the best.

• Configure the original Tivo drive as secondary master /dev/hdc
• Configure the new drive as secondary slave /dev/hdd
• Configure the cdrom as primary master /dev/hdc

Performing the Upgrade

Follow these instructions exactly.

• Boot from the cd you made earlier.
• Lets be sure the original Tivo hard drive in in the right place. If the command doeeee't return info about a valid Tive drive then stop and check your configuration. Type the following.
  > mfstool info /dev/hdc
• Now lets copy over the data. Type the following
  > mfstool backup -Tao - /dev/hdc | mfstool restore -s 127 -pxi - /dev/hdd
• When its done its time to shut down. Type:
  > halt

Finishing Up

Power down the PC. Remove the original Tivo hard drive and store in a safe place.

If you just want to upgrade your hard drive then re-assemble your Tive with the new drive.

Otherwise lets keep on hacking.

Hacking the Tivo

This is the part you have been waiting for. The first thing to remember is that Tivo doesn't want to make this easy. On the other hand the Tivo runs Linus. So lets get started.

Setting up your PC Again

Configure your PC as follows.

• Configure the new drive as secondary master /dev/hdc
• Configure the cdrom as primary master /dev/hdc

Boot and Setup

If everything looks good than boot off the CD once more.

• Lets check to be sure that the New Tivo drive is connected to the right place. Type:
  > mfstool info /dev/hdc
• Now lets find out what the boot partition number is. Write down the number. Type:
  > bootpage -b /dev/hdc
• Ok mount the cdrom with the following command.
  > mount /dev/hda /cdrom
• The CD contains the hacked kernel already. Type the following to install the new kernel.
  > dd if=/cdrom/vmlinux-hacked.px of=/dev/hdc3
  > dd if=/cdrom/vmlinux-hacked.px of=/dev/hdc6

The number you wrote down now becomes very important. Read carefully and follow the instructions.

• Its time to set the bootpage paramaters.
  IF YOUR NUMBEIS 3 TYPE:
  > bootpage -P "root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesofware=false" -C /dev/hdc
  IF YOUR NUMBEIS 6 TYPE:
  > bootpage -P "root=/dev/hda7 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesofware=false" -C /dev/hdc
• We need to mount the Tivo's root filesystem. so type the following:
  IF YOUR NUMBEIS 3 TYPE:
  > mount /dev/hdc4 /mnt/tivo
  IF YOUR NUMBEIS 6 TYPE:
  > mount /dev/hdc7 /mnt/tivo
• Now for tivotools. Type:
  > mkdir /mnt/tivo/tivo-bin
  > tar -xvf /cdrom/tivotools.tar -C /mnt/tivo/tivo-bin/
• Disable the Tivo firewall. Type:
  > mv /mnt/tivo/sbin/iptables /mnt/tivo/sbin/iptables.orig
  > cp /cdrom/iptables /mnt/tivo/sbin/
  > chmod 755 /mnt/tivo/sbin/iptables
• Lets copy over the rc.sysinit.author file. Type:
  > cp /cdrom/rc.sysinit.author /mnt/tivo/etc/rc.d/
  > chmod 755 /mnt/tivo/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author
• We need to mount the Tivo's /var partition and copy over the other hacks. Type:
  > mkdir /mnt/var
  > mount /dev/hdc9 /mnt/var
  > mkdir /mnt/var/hacks
  > cd /cdrom
  > cp *.tgz *.tcl *.tpm vserver /mnt/var/hacks/
• We're done with this part. so lets unmount everything and powerdown. Type:
  > umount /mnt/tivo
  > umount /mnt/var
  > halt

Re-assemble the Tivo

Remove the drive from the PC and put your Tivo back together. Get everything hooked up. Don't forget the network connection. Power up the Tivo. Be sure everything is working correctly.

The Final Hacking

The final steps consist of logging into the Tivo and running scripts and installing other software.

• Now its time to log into the Tivo. For the examples the Tivo IP address is 192.168.1.10. In the command below I also put the port number. This was done to keep the text I typed from double printing. Type:
  > telnet 192.168.1.10 23
• Some permissions need to be corrected. So Type:
  > cd /var/hacks
  > chmod a+x *.tcl
  > chmod a+x *.tpm
• Its time to patch and name the tivo. This will add in the features that Directv left out. Type:
  > ./superpatch-6.2a.tcl
  > ./set_mrv_name_67.tcl tivo-bedroom
  > reboot
• Once the Tivo reboots log back in. The final software to install is the web interface. Type:
  > cd /var/hacks
  > gzip -dc < tivowebplus-v1.3.1-070413-1.tgz | tar xf -
  > /var/hacks/TivoWebPlus/tivoweb &

Conclusion

That's it. I feel much better not being a slave to the TV. The next trick is getting the season passes to show as podcasts in iTunes.

Comments