Can Tivo Series 2 SA be hacked?

[mattland]

I need help!!! I've been researching for weeks how to extract video from my Tivo S2 SA. I finally found where to start but I need to know a few more things.
1. Can Tivo S2 SA running the latest tivo software be hacked like S1? I'm talking about gaing telnet access and using tytool as explained in the Newbie tivo hacker guide (http://stevejenkins.com/tivo/newbie.html).
2. Since S2 does not have an edge connector for a turbonet card can I just use a USB-Ethernet adapter for the connection?
3. How dangerous is this on a scale of 1-10?.

Please respond. I am desperate!!

Thanks Matt....

[mrblack51]

Originally posted by mattland
1. Can Tivo S2 SA running the latest tivo software be hacked like S1? I'm talking about gaing telnet access and using tytool as explained in the Newbie tivo hacker guide (http://stevejenkins.com/tivo/newbie.html).
Can it be hacked like an S1? sort of. yes, you can get bash. tivoweb works if you get mips-compiled versions of the two binaries it uses. extraction works, but im not sure that the tools currently work. anything else for the s1 'should' work with modifications. executables for the s1 need to be recompiled for the s2. scripts can be used on either, since they are platform independant.

no, on the s2, you cant just edit a single file to get bash like you can on an s1. in order to gain access, you need to use the BASH_ENV hack to obtain access, and that hack only works on certian software revisions (those below 3.2.0 as i recall). if you do a search here or on AVS for bash_env, you should find info on hacking the SA via the bash_env hack.

2. Since S2 does not have an edge connector for a turbonet card can I just use a USB-Ethernet adapter for the connection?
yes, you can use a usb ethernet adapter. on an SA S2, you can use it to get guide data and such. however, you cant get telnet or anything else to work without using bash_env to get bash.

3. How dangerous is this on a scale of 1-10?.
um, i guess you could electrocute yourself if you are dumb when you pull your drive. you could screw up your tivo image, and could be screwed if you dont have a backup.

NOTE: you can also obtain bash by desoldering your prom, flashing it, then re-installing it. I assume this is probably not something you are interested in since you asked about danger.