newbie tivo questions...

[seirk]

Hi, just received a Phillip dsr704 that i got off ebay. It has been upgraded with a 160gb drive but is otherwise in stock condition and came with the original dtv access card still sealed in the package. Now my questions:
1. can i just add this dtivo unit to my existing dtv account without adding the tivo portion and then hack the tivo portion?
2. if the answer to question 1 is no (must sub tivo portion) - once the new account is added by dtv, is that when you mod your unit and just keep paying for the tivo service anyway?
3. why would i want to keep the tivo from calling in daily?

Sorry i have so many questions or if anything is inappropriate, just want to do this the right way the first time :)

thanx, seirk

[acr2001]

Hi, just received a Phillip dsr704 that i got off ebay. It has been upgraded with a 160gb drive but is otherwise in stock condition and came with the original dtv access card still sealed in the package. Now my questions:
1. can i just add this dtivo unit to my existing dtv account without adding the tivo portion and then hack the tivo portion?
2. if the answer to question 1 is no (must sub tivo portion) - once the new account is added by dtv, is that when you mod your unit and just keep paying for the tivo service anyway?
3. why would i want to keep the tivo from calling in daily?

Sorry i have so many questions or if anything is inappropriate, just want to do this the right way the first time :)

thanx, seirk

1. Once your paying a monthly fee for one tivo, other tivos should be included free (i think). What your asking is service theft and isnt discussed here. You wont need to do it anyway since its free as a second tivo.
3. If the tivo makes its daily call they can see your hacks. Thats not really too much of a concern however. More important concerns are that you can
A. cause problems with there servers which would result in them closing your account (this doesent happen with the usual hacks, only some weird stuff)
B. Most importantly, your tivo could download an update that would cause it to loose the hacks you worked on. It could also make it harder to hack.

[malfunct]

1. can i just add this dtivo unit to my existing dtv account without adding the tivo portion and then hack the tivo portion?


This is considered DTV service theft so we don't discuss it here. Also, dtv only charges 1 tivo fee regardless of how many tivos you have activated.

2. if the answer to question 1 is no (must sub tivo portion) - once the new account is added by dtv, is that when you mod your unit and just keep paying for the tivo service anyway?


You can actually add the tivo portion before or after you hack. Its activated over the satellite stream, not over the phone.

3. why would i want to keep the tivo from calling in daily?

Sorry i have so many questions or if anything is inappropriate, just want to do this the right way the first time :)

thanx, seirk

The last poster answered this well. If you have the normal version of the os installed there is little reason to worry except that you could recieve an update. If you use the automated method to hack your machine its not able to sucessfully recieve an update without being messed up.