GXCEBOT with no modem

[net_keym]

I recently picked up a Hughes GXCEBOT that was a lightning strike. The unit has no card and no WORKING modem. I have two DTV receivers with P3 cards, but when I put a P3 in the DTivo, I get incompatible card. From what I've read, the software on the DTivo must be 3.x and requires P4. So I backup up the Tivo drive on my PC with MFStools2 and restored D6K252x1 to the Tivo HD, but when I power up the Tivo, I get Welcome, Powering Up, and that's it. Do I have to flash the prom? Do I load 25Xtreme and will it do the prom for me? I'd like to get this baby working. What else do I have to do because the modem doesn't work? Do I have to use a hack? Is it included with the 252? Please help.

[mrblack51]

yup, you should use 25xtreme. a standard mfstools backup doesnt mess with the prom, and if the kernel was hacked on your 252 image, then it will fail the kernel sig check. 25xtreme will flash the prom, then you can restore whatever image you want

[jchan88]

net_keym,

IF your modem is really fried, you can circumvent it in software. If you have a spare drive, apply a fresh 25xtreme and boot it to test. After the first reboot (flashes prom), it should continue to "Updating database..." and hang there.

At the "Almost there..." or "Updating database..." screen, bring up your bash prompt and get a listing of your processes by using "ps auxww". If your last process is "/tvbin/modemtest ATi3", then kill the process (kill 'whatever the pid is listed' - example "kill 155"). This should enable your Dtivo to continue the rest of it's boot process.

To permanently circumvent the "modemtest", what you'll need to do is create a modemtest file does nothing (credit goes to xannor for this fix):
Go the /tvbin dir and "mv modemtest modemtest.orig"
Then you'll need to type "echo '#!/bin/bash' > modemtest"
Can't remember if you needed to chmod +x modemtest or not
Try to make a Test Call to see if it hangs again.

Hope this helps.

[net_keym]

jchan88,

That is EXACTLY what happens and I've tried installing 25Xtreme with DTivo in stream, out of stream, card in, card out, you name it, and it always does exactly the same thing -- hangs at "Updating Database".

Yes, the modem is REALLY fried. As a matter of fact, the dude I got this from had 4 receivers fry, two Tivo's, a HDTV receiver, and a regular receiver. Dave replaced the regular one for $25, but he wouldn't replace any of the others.....shocker, huh?

I took the box thinking I might be able to replace the modem. Fat chance, the two modem chips are integrated on the m/b, and who knows what's fried, cause everything LOOKS ok.

So.....sounded like a hack-only box to me :)

-NK

[jchan88]

net_keym,

I bought a DSR6000 off of eBay a couple of months ago not knowing it had a fried modem. Using the instructions I posted, I was able to get the DTivo up and running with not problems. Of course in my case, I was lucky in that it was ONLY the modem that was fried. I've looked around for a modem repair kit, but the one I found was for the stand-alone Tivo. But you're going to have to ask yourself if you'll ever need to use the modem. Other than the fried modem, the DTivo has been running fine with no problems.

Try out my instructions, at least you'll be able to get past the modemtest. Good Luck.

[bobabc]

You can use the mfstools disk to setup your harddrive and it will flash the prom with the image that you are using because it is an xtreme image. The problem you are having is that the mfstools disk doesn't enable byteswapping on the drives at default. You have to select it when you boot up.