My HR10-250 Hacking How-To (based on my personal experience) (merged)

[][ronMan]

After working off of a bunch of discontinuous and hard to follow hacking posts, I've put together a pretty decent step-by-step guide on hacking the HD Tivo. Please check it out and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

http://www.imbetterthanyou.com/hr10-250/

Thanks...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[philhu]

that is an awesome document!

It shows exactly what to do, it shows the steps, and you can learn what it is doing as you do it.

Very cool!

One small typo.

Right before the 'halt' command, you say, 'Halt your tivo', you meant 'Halt your pc'

Phil

[][ronMan]

Thanks Phil... Typo fixed... :)

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[philhu]

When the hd-tivo comes down a bit in price, I'll buy one.

I just broke down and bought a D-VHS machine. Got a really good price on it
($389) and it does 1080i and 720p digital tapes as well as records std/s-vhs tapes. Any Amazon is selling quite a few d-vhs/1080i tapes

Phil

[steve90071]

I noticed that in step 8, sysinit.author, you show the usb and ethernet drivers as:

#install usb and ethernet drivers
insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o
#insmod /lib/modules/hcd.o
insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o
insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o

While other guides have listed the usb and ethernet drivers as:

#install usb and ethernet driver
insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o
insmod /lib/modules/hcd.o
insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o
insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o

In your guide, the "insmod /lib/modules/hcd.o" is not implemented. Which method is correct?

[][ronMan]

steve90071,
People who are showing hcd.o as one of the modules required for usb and ethernet did a lot of copying and pasting from other series 2 tivo solutions. hcd.o isn't present on the HR10-250, so you surely don't need to insmod it.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[steve90071]

Thanks Ironman.

This is a great piece of work, particularly for handicapped hackers like myself!

[][ronMan]

Not a problem. Sometimes all we want is a nice step-by-step guide for how do do things. For example, my buddy has a HDVR2 that he wants to hack. I've hacked my standalone series 1 and my series 1 DirecTivo, but I have no idea how to help him hack his HDVR2. The whole Monte thing has yet to be clearly explained in a nice step-by-step tutorial. Once I had hacked my HDTivo I didn't want others to feel the same way about it, so I put down all the steps as easily as I could. I appreciate your kind words...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[JJBliss]

Moved to Newbie

[captain_video]

I hope you don't come back to this board begging for a backup image when your HDTivo gets hosed sometime down the road, and believe me that day will come. Telling someone not to make a backup of their drive before attempting to hack it is not only irresponsible but downright stupid. I would venture to say that having to restore a backup image due to some errant implementation of a hack or just bad luck has happened to the vast majority of Tivo "hackers" at one time or another.

Here's a quote from the guide:


4 Backing up
If you are a pussy, feel free to back up your drive and restore it onto a new drive. I went balls out and didn't.

[plugplay]

I have done all the steps to get the networking working and it does work great as I can telnet in and ftp in. However, I get call failed trying to setup the ',#401' settings in the dial prefix. What dumb thing could I have done wrong? Thanks

[][ronMan]

captain_video,
This was meant as a tongue-in-cheek comment. It's hard to translate sarcasm to the digital domain...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronman

I hope you don't come back to this board begging for a backup image when your HDTivo gets hosed sometime down the road, and believe me that day will come. Telling someone not to make a backup of their drive before attempting to hack it is not only irresponsible but downright stupid. I would venture to say that having to restore a backup image due to some errant implementation of a hack or just bad luck has happened to the vast majority of Tivo "hackers" at one time or another.

[rewrite]

[ronMan']captain_video,
This was meant as a tongue-in-cheek comment. It's hard to translate sarcasm to the digital domain...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronman


I totally agree with cpt_video: its extremely irresposible to even suggest that anyone do this without backing up first.

Images are very hard to come by, and most importantly EACH IMAGE COMES WITH A SERIAL NUMBER BURNED INTO IT (see the instructions on the new InstantCakeHD if you don't believe me) so its very unlikely that many people will be willing to let a friend copy their image.

You instructions should tell people to copy their drives, then only work on the copy (leaving the original in a safe place in case the HDTivo needs to be serviced or restored)

[][ronMan]

To clear up confusion, I'll change the wording.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[captain_video]

The only reason I mentioned it is because there are countless numbers of newbies that don't make backups of their drives before they jump in and hose it up. Just look at the image begging thread to see what I'm talking about. The only images anyone should ever have to ask for is one for Xtreme or for a different model Tivo than the one they own (i.e. 4.0.x for a S2 DTivo). A newbie that reads your guide could easily misinterpret your "tongue-in-cheek" comment and take it as gospel. You should be stating that backing up the original drive is mandatory and not just something to be done only if they feel like it. No one should ever consider hacking a Tivo without first backing up the original drive. Ideally, you shouldn't even be hacking the original drive but rather using one that you have restored the backup image to. I generally do this with every Tivo I've ever hacked. Once I'm satisfied that the backup image is working as it should then I usually add the original drive back into the mix as the B drive.

To be precise, you tell the user to reinstall the drive in the Tivo and make sure it boots up properly. Unfortunately, you don't tell them what to do if they have boot problems or where to look for help. This is where you can expect to get deluged with PMs and posts pleading for help. Since you wrote the guide and posted it, the rank and file here will fully expect you to support any questions stemming from use of your guide.

Don't get me wrong, I think your guide is fairly well written and concise but it could use a little tuning up. It couldn't hurt to insert links to the discussion threads that describe each of the various hacks that you direct the user to install. It's also a good idea to reinforce the notion that the user read through all of the aforementioned threads so they understand exactly what they're doing before they ever crack open the case on their new $1000 toy. A guide should be used to educate as well as demonstrate the methodology and button pushing. The user should be informed as to why he is performing a step and not just told to do it. Otherwise, they have learned nothing and will have no clue how to fix problems later when they occur.

FWIW, I would never recommend the USB200M adapter to anyone except perhaps a laptop user that's looking for something small and portable. The USB200M is only one of several USB ethernet adapters that is compatible with the ax8817x.o driver. The Netgear FA120 is a better design for a permanent setup and allows for a much more solid connection to an RJ45 connector, IMO. You should at least inform the user that there are other options available or at least point them to the list of compatible devices.

[][ronMan]

Thanks for the quality input captain_video. I'll try to link in some other threads without cluttering up the directions. The reason I linked right to files and not to threads was to help reduce confusion, but perhaps I can put a "Why?" link or two in each step so that people can look for more information. As far as the network adapter goes, that is a good suggestion, and I'll add it to my next revision.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[bigrig]

Thanks for putting that together, Derek! This will help me immensely when I finally dive in. If you had Caller ID instructions in there it would be perfect <hint-hint> ;)

[][ronMan]

bigrig,
It's kinda hard to tell with the red color, but is that J.B. and K.G. in your avatar? If so, super cool... I'll add instructions for getting elseed up and running in an appendix to the HowTo...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[plugplay]

I absolutly love your guide and was hoping if you can please add fixsub to the guide. Thank you very, very much.

[captain_video]

You should be able to find info on installing fixsub and any other hack in either Sleeper's tivoscript thread or MrBlack51's monte thread in the series 2 support section. Try a little legwork on your own first and you'll be amazed how much you can learn.

[plugplay]

You should be able to find info on installing fixsub and any other hack in either Sleeper's tivoscript thread or MrBlack51's monte thread in the series 2 support section. Try a little legwork on your own first and you'll be amazed how much you can learn.


I found a couple of threads such as http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?p=88291&mode=linear#post88291 to help. But none of them are as detailed as ][ronMan's guide. I just don't want to screw up.

[captain_video]

The guide does indeed show you how to do what you want but do you actually understand what it is you're doing and why? This is the info that is crucial to hacking a Tivo. Without learning the rationale behind the hack you won't be able to troubleshoot any problems when they occur later (and newbies have lots of them, believe me).

The great thing about hacking a Tivo is that you can't really screw it up. If you create and test a backup image from your original drive then you should have no worries whatsoever. You'll learn far more by making mistakes than you ever will with a clearcut guide leading you by the nose. If you don't install a hack properly and your Tivo won't boot, simply restore the backup image and start again. It's easy to do and doesn't take long. Most of all you have to learn to be patient. Don;t expect to get it right the first time, unless you've spent a lot of time reading and learning and fully understand what you're doing before you crack open the case.

I spent about 3-4 months reading every bit of info I could find in these forums before I ever had the opportunity to take the cover off my DTivo. I was on the road for about two years straight and bought my first DTivo on ebay many months before I returned home to enjoy it. I didn't have any choice as to when I could actually begin hacking the unit since it was unavailable to me during that time. Instead, I spent all my spare time reading and learning and the time I spent paid off in the end. I hacked my DTivo correctly the first time I tried with no problems at all, and I didn't have any guides to walk me through the process. I knew absolutely nothing about Linux (and basically just enough now to get me into trouble) when I started so I was a newbie in every sense of the word. Most newbies today want to hack their Tivos the minute they get them home and then are dumbfounded when the hacks don't work as advertised. Take your time and learn to do it right. The info is here but it will take a bit of effort to find it and weed out what you need. For info on where to get started, check out this thread:

http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37058

[rewrite]

I commend you for making the changes to your guide, and if I may make one more suggestion:

you may want to add in there something about log management (either clearing them manually, using the TWP plugin, or nulling them with noLogs or logsnull) so that people don't keep wonder why their /var partition gets wiped out.

This may also border on the caption_video point about not being too directive, but it is sure to come up

[][ronMan]

Good call... Maybe a "Maintenance" appendix is in order too. Been a busy weekend, but I hope to implement a bunch of these suggestions tomorrow...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

I commend you for making the changes to your guide, and if I may make one more suggestion:

you may want to add in there something about log management (either clearing them manually, using the TWP plugin, or nulling them with noLogs or logsnull) so that people don't keep wonder why their /var partition gets wiped out.

This may also border on the caption_video point about not being too directive, but it is sure to come up

[Hamster]

I have done all the steps to get the networking working and it does work great as I can telnet in and ftp in. However, I get call failed trying to setup the ',#401' settings in the dial prefix. What dumb thing could I have done wrong? Thanks

I'm having the same problem. It has a default gateway set and I can ping internet addresses, but daily call with any ,#4xx prefix fails. I've done it on my old Series 1, but it's not working on the HD-DTivo for me.

I still have to connect a serial cable every two weeks. I'm beginning to suspect that daily call via network card isn't possible on the HR10-250.

[][ronMan]

Yes, as of right now, the ,#401 series 1 ethernet dailiy call hack doesn't work on the network enabled HR10-250 (also doesn't work on other series 2 DirecTivo's). When progress is made on getting this to work, I'll update the step-by-step guide.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[Hamster]

[ronMan']Yes, as of right now, the ,#401 series 1 ethernet dailiy call hack doesn't work on the network enabled HR10-250

Okay. Thanks for confirming that.

Hamster aka Hamster

[bigrig]

[ronMan']bigrig,
It's kinda hard to tell with the red color, but is that J.B. and K.G. in your avatar? If so, super cool...

Yeah, Kage and Jables! :D

[][ronMan]

Very nice indeed... :)

Yeah, Kage and Jables! :D

[Comedian]

does the #401 problem have anything to do with the private (192.168) ips in the /etc/resolv.conf file?

[][ronMan]

Nope... The resolv.conf is the same on my series 1 standalone and my series 1 DirecTivo.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

does the #401 problem have anything to do with the private (192.168) ips in the /etc/resolv.conf file?

[bobbyv]

IronMan, Great guide... I just picked up a hr10-250 yesterday and will use your guide as soon as I pick up a new drive. Thanks for all the hard you work you put into this.

[bigrig]

Derek, I have successfully modded my TIVO, thanks for your help! :D

Just a couple notes about your write-up:

"Killing initrd", step 4, the first command should just be:
umount /floppy

The .profile script generated errors for me - I just used this instead:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/hack/lib
export PATH=$PATH:/var/hack/bin

For callerid, the thread here did the trick:
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37551

Thanks again!

Matt

[edrock200]

Wow great guide. Thanks for putting it together.

A question, if I've already upgraded my HDTivo to a two drive unit (additional 250gb HD) do the directions change? That is do I have to tell the script somehow that the drives are married?

[][ronMan]

bigrig,
Thanks for your comments. I've been meaning to make a bunch of updates to the guide, and will use your input as well. Been busy with real work this past week, but will hopefully have time this week.

edrock200,
The fact that you've upgraded capacity doesn't change anything. The only drive you need to pull from the HR10-250 to do the hacking is the master.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

[edrock200]

[ronMan']bigrig,
Thanks for your comments. I've been meaning to make a bunch of updates to the guide, and will use your input as well. Been busy with real work this past week, but will hopefully have time this week.

edrock200,
The fact that you've upgraded capacity doesn't change anything. The only drive you need to pull from the HR10-250 to do the hacking is the master.

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan


Thank you!

[Comedian]

Just a point of comment. I needed to add a

route add default gw 192.168.0.1

command to my rc.sysinit.author, where 192.168.0.1 was the gateway to my network, to be able to access my TiVo THROUGH my firewall (even via VPN) from OUTSIDE of my network.

Haven't seen that one anywhere in any of the faqs. It's been awhile since I've had to hack ifconfig directly, so I can't remember if there's a gw option in ifconfig. "route add" did it for me though.

Loved your faq btw, Ironman. I've got Elseed Yac'ing to my Winblows machine in my office (no Caller ID phone in here) so I get a cid popup on my screen! Now THAT's fun! :-)

[longshot]

i have been doing my reading and have asked this question a few times but have not gotten answer. Does the fixsub work on the HR10-250? I understand how to do it but want to know if anyone else has sucessfully done it before i attempt it.

LonG

[pjjameso]

Which drives has everyone been buying to replace the one in the HR10-250?
Would like to hack the tivo and keep the orginal drive on a shelf. Would also like to explore the option of adding two hard drives of 300 gb. Any suggestions as to what and where to buy?

[edrock200]

I just tried the instructions with no luck...had a few questions...

Does the DLink dub-E100 work with the these instructions? I grabbed it off of my HDVR2...

Step 6: Is this a necessary step or a precautionary one? I have a backup image so I didn't mind if the settings got screwed and skipped past this, but looking back this may have been necessary.

*edit* NM, I forgot to chmod rc.sysinit.author...my bad. Also, FYI it does work with the dub-e100.

[HUGE]

What is the preffered method of fixsub on the HDtivo? Is it the same as for a S2?



HUGE

[dbenn]

I have successfully networked my HDtivo using DSmooth's guide and others.
I have Bash and FTP working but am confused about some of the other tools.
Do I need to or is it necessary to convert these from .tgz to .tar files b4 sending via ftp. I so how do I convert them.
I have Stiffit,Winrar and Winzip. Thanks in advance for any help it's been a couple of years since I did any Tivo hacking on my S1 Dtivo.

devbin-s2.tar (from devbin-s2.tgz)
netbin-s2.tar (from netbin-s2.tgz)

Couldn't come with anything on search.

[bigrig]

I have successfully networked my HDtivo using DSmooth's guide and others.
I have Bash and FTP working but am confused about some of the other tools.
Do I need to or is it necessary to convert these from .tgz to .tar files b4 sending via ftp. I so how do I convert them.
I have Stiffit,Winrar and Winzip. Thanks in advance for any help it's been a couple of years since I did any Tivo hacking on my S1 Dtivo.

devbin-s2.tar (from devbin-s2.tgz)
netbin-s2.tar (from netbin-s2.tgz)

Couldn't come with anything on search.

Yeah, I was confused about that stuff, too. I found a program called Powerzip that converted .tgz to .tar. But I think you can just unzip the files on your PC with Winrar, and then transfer over the unzipped files to the correct directory.

Matt

[psxboy]

Just transfer them to the Tivo the way they are (be sure to use binary mode, though) and extract them with this:

tar -xzvf [filename].tgz

The -z option tells tar to process the archive through gzip first.

-psxboy

[milleda31]

Nice work....now if someone would rewrite it for an HDVR2.... :(

[psxboy]

Hehe... my post was like a "cart before the horse" kinda thing in your case, as tar is in the devbin archive. :rolleyes:

Your other options are to pull the drive, boot into a linux distro that will allow you to mount the Tivo drive, and extract the archives to the Tivo drive that way. Alternatively, you can use WinRAR to open both the tgz and the resultant tar files and transfer them that way. (You might want to just extract the tar (& gzip?) binaries, transfer them to the Tivo, and then extract the rest of the archives locally on the Tivo. ::shrug:: Matter of preference, I suppose. It might matter if there were symlinks in the archive, but I don't think that's the case with these.)

-psxboy

[TiVoByte]

][ronMan Thanks for the great guide. Everything worked perfectly the first time! One thing I am concerned about is an "update" wiping out the good stuff. There seems to be some question if MSF Backup/Restore will compleatly backup something like Monty. I wasn't sure about how it would act with the HD Team's awsome hack.

I had a second 250G drive sitting around, so backed up & restored the hacked drive and, so far, all is going well. I'm going to burn, both the "stock" and "hack" image to CD for long term storage. I'll keep the original drive, in it's un-booted state, packed nicely for long term storage :-) Then, I'll move one of the hacked drives to the X-box for game storage...

Thanks to everyone for making my second HD Tivo Solder free!!

RS

[dbenn]

Thanx for the help on tgz & tar I ended up expanding the files with Stuffit
and copying to to /var/hack/bin then chmod 755 * on the folder.
Getting the hang of this again!! Next step is to expand to 600gb with
this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?postid=2101784#post2101784) method. Has anyone else tried this? Thanks Ironman,bigrig & PSXboy Appriciate the help.

[thepackfan]

I have tried this 3 times with new images every time. I go thru all the steps. I reread all typing before entering. I don't see any error messages. Is there some basic linux command that I should be doing that I don't know about?

The killhdinit seems to work. but I don't get any connectivity thru the adaptor.
I see no lights on the USB Adaptor. The one thing I have noticed is that the name I used for tivoftpd.mips is tivoftpd.mip. I chmod 755 tivoftpd.mip though, so I don't think this is a problem. I tried various commands in the rc.sysinit.author file per various post in this thread but no go.

Any help would be appreciated I have Tivoweb and elseed running on my hdvr2 and my dsr7000 and would love to get these on my HD box.

THX

[HUGE]

Will these hack prevent future upgrades - and would I want to block them?


HUGE

[bigrig]

I have tried this 3 times with new images every time. I go thru all the steps. I reread all typing before entering. I don't see any error messages. Is there some basic linux command that I should be doing that I don't know about?

The killhdinit seems to work. but I don't get any connectivity thru the adaptor.
I see no lights on the USB Adaptor. The one thing I have noticed is that the name I used for tivoftpd.mips is tivoftpd.mip. I chmod 755 tivoftpd.mip though, so I don't think this is a problem. I tried various commands in the rc.sysinit.author file per various post in this thread but no go.

Any help would be appreciated I have Tivoweb and elseed running on my hdvr2 and my dsr7000 and would love to get these on my HD box.

THX

You could try the How-To posted in the files here (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hdtivo/) and see if you have better results.

Matt

[BrianHDTIVO]

Thanks for the great guide.

I do have one problem though. FTP connects but does not give me a prompt. It says "Connected to 192.168.1.110", then pauses for about 30 secs, then says "connection closed by remote host".

FYI, I have the "D" software and did change the boot partition to 6.

Ideas?

[tivoq]

I just sucessfully did the hdtivo hack.

I've been running on Series I/powerpc until now and need to find additional MIPS binaries not mentioned in this FAQ. Are the some links for this?

In particular I want "vi".

Also, has anyone packaged a Linux Intel cross development package with a Series II target?

UPDATE:

I found exactly what I was looking for

http://tivoutils.sourceforge.net./

[airf00]

I'm about to buy a HR10-250 and am reading this to get familiar with everything. I just tried to dl killhdinitrd from the link on the guide and it says Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the webmaster

The link I tried was...
killhdinitrd - from http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=3574

So where else can one grab this file?

Also, I'm still looking for info on how to fix the daily call. Guess more reading is on order.

Thanks for the great guide and I'll be sure to use this once I get my new hd tivo.

[grog54321]

You can download killhdinitrd from the killhdinitrd thread:
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36692

As for the daily call you have a few options. Do some reading on "fakecall" - that makes the Tivo think it made the call successfully and it will stop nagging you. Another option is to do the daily call via the Internet - you can do this via PPP through the serial port or via ethernet if you've added a USB network adapter to your setup.

[plugplay]

I have noticed a small bug and was wondering if anyone else was experiencing this. I have Tivoweb installed with the patch just as it is shown in the guide. The bug is when I go to
User Interface > Channel Guide > All, I get the error:

INTERNAL SERVER ERROR
--cut here--
action_channellist '/1' ''
expected integer but got "22.1"
while executing
"lsort -integer $channelnumlist"
(procedure "::action_channellist" line 29)
invoked from within
"::action_$action $chan $part $env"
("eval" body line 1)
invoked from within
"eval {::action_$action $chan $part $env}"
--cut here--

Does this happen to everyone else? Thanks

[cahrmm]

up to step 12 on ironmans guide and when i do this step i get this

bash-2.02# cd /var/hack/bin
bash-2.02# cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.tar
bash: ../devbin-s2.tar: No such file or directory
bash-2.02#

this is what is in my directory at the /var/hack i have a ? on this see below

/var/hack/ciphercheck.tcl
/var/hack/csoscout.tcl
/var/hack/devbin-s2 ?
/var/hack/mfs_ftp.tar
/var/hack/netbin-s2 ?
/var/hack/NowShowing.tcl
/var/hack/ps-s2 ?
/var/hack/s2bins.tar
/var/hack/TivoWebPlus-1.0-final.tivo.tpm
/var/hack/tserver_mfs
/var/hack/twebplus-patched.tar


i used the links that are on the ironmans guide to download the devbin and the netbin all files were downloaded from there

i then used the powerzip to convert it to .tar and sent all files to the var/hack.

i am stuck at this part cant go any further i would like some info please

Also the hdtivo at this time wants to go to final step and wants to make the daily call

[cahrmm]

hdtivo 3.1.5



ok i am having serious problems with this guide.#1 is the commands that are on the guide are not matching what the floppy drives are saying in the killhdinit step. i put:

mount /dev/fd0 /floppy

cd /floppy

ls

this gives me killhd~1 for the killhdinit file and for the tivoftpd.mips it gives me this tivoft~!.mip

when i put those file names in it works great killhdinit works fine i am all good up to step 10 of the guide

i cant get the devbin-s2.tar all the others i have already placed in the hdtivo. i can ftp telnet all that to the hdtivo. They were all sent binary to /var/hack

then at step 12 i put the command

cd /var/hack/bin
cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.tar i have the devbin-s2.gz in the tivo not

devbin-s2.tar

this is what i get:

bash-2.02# cd /var/hack/bin
bash-2.02# cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.gz
bash: ../devbin-s2.gz: No such file or directory
bash-2.02# cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.tar
bash: ../devbin-s2.tar: No such file or directory
bash-2.02# cd /var/hack
bash-2.02# chmod 755 TivoWebPlus-1.0-final.tivo.tpm
bash: chmod: command not found
bash-2.02# chmod 755 TivoWebPlus-1.0-final.tivo.tpm./TivoWebPlus-1.0-final.tivo.
tpm
bash: chmod: command not found
bash-2.02#

i have been stuck at this point for awhile now and IRONMAN never replies to the thread

also if i can get help on fakecall.tcl i would like to keep my hacks intak on the tivo and no annoying banners

cahrmm

[NutKase]

i have been stuck at this point for awhile now and IRONMAN never replies to the thread


Thus the problem with following guides.

Learn. Most of us don't support 'guides'.


NutKase

[dogbreath]

Will the hr10-250 use the network to call home?

Dogbreath

[PlainBill]

Will the hr10-250 use the network to call home?

Dogbreath

No.

PlainBill

[grog54321]

Will the hr10-250 use the network to call home?
Yes, but you need to make a minor change to the rc.sysinit. There's a variable called "DEBUG_BOARD" that is false by default and you need to change it to true. See the following thread:

http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=35780&page=2&pp=15&highlight=debug_board

[gooey_guy]

[ronMan']After working off of a bunch of discontinuous and hard to follow hacking posts, I've put together a pretty decent step-by-step guide on hacking the HD Tivo. Please check it out and let me know if you have any comments or suggestions.

http://www.imbetterthanyou.com/hr10-250/

Thanks...

Derek aka DSmooth aka ][ronMan

I am trying to download this page and get nothing. Anyone else having this problem or anyone know if this guide/faq is somewhere else?

[mrpwd]

:) I want to thank you for producing such a great
procedure for us!!!

I am a newbie and have some questions if you would be
so kind.

I understantd the purpose/function of: Killinitdr,
rc.sysinit.author and TivoWebPlus,
but not that of the following - Could you please
explain why I might perform them????

Configuring .profile
Install basic unix commands
Install mfs_ftp
Patch tivoapp to disable encryption
Starting tserver_mfs??

In addition- do you think that adding the line
"export upgradesoftware=false" to your rc.sysinit file
will preserve the hacking we have done??

Also - do you have suggestions for adding Called-Id to
the HR10-250

If someone wanted to make a contribution, where would
they to that??

Thanks so much - Tom

[rc3105]

If someone wanted to make a contribution, where would
they to that??

if you're using killhdinitrd (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?p=177100#post177100) then you should really read the first post of the thread it's attached to where it says...

Posted on behalf of HD TeAm, 2004/08/03.

Please donate to the EFF (https://www.eff.org/support/donate-cc.html) if you find this program useful. Suggested donation: $25. Paypal is also accepted: send to accounting@eff.org. If you wish, you may paste a link to this post in the "reasons" box so they are aware of our interests (fair use of legitimately purchased copyrighted materials).


*if you think the guide's all that you could prolly paypal the author as well - it's allways nice to get a free beer via e-mail ;)

[The Only Druid]

Install basic unix commands
Install mfs_ftp
Patch tivoapp to disable encryption
Starting tserver_mfs??

The installation of basic unix commands (e.g. ls, cp, etc.) provides easier (arguably required) functionality while working on your tivo via telnet.

The installation of mfs_ftp is required to support any transfer of shows recorded on your tivo. This refers not only to TMF file extraction (e.g. for archival off your Tivo) but also to TY extraction (e.g. via TyTool or TyStudio for DVD archival).

The patching of tivoapp to disable encryption (replacing the outdated kmen method) ensures that recordings are not encrypted, and thus that they can be played off the tivo (a requirement for viewing an extracted TY or TMF).

Tserver is a server-application that communicates with TyTool to allow the extraction of TY files. The earlier versions of tserver require the NowShowing.tcl script to be present, but the latest versions can be used without it.

[Beaker]

I got my HR10-250 last week. I'd like to set it up for video extraction and your guide is what I plan to use. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for making this guide!!

One quick question: Is it safe to let my TiVo upgrade to 6.2 before I begin hacking it?

[fixn278]

I got my HE10-250 last week. I'd like to set it up for video extraction and your guide is what I plan to use. THANK YOU VERY MUCH for making this guide!!

One quick question: Is it safe to let my TiVo upgrade to 6.2 before I begin hacking it?

It will not upgrade to 6.2. 3.1.5f is the latest version for that model.

[Beaker]

Thanks.

I notice in the " How to disable tystream encryption to enable extraction (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=31213)" thread it mentions the line to alter tivoapp
but it mentions this is only for 3.1.5e.

Is this line safe to use on 3.1.5f?
echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunc of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6978700

(I supposed I can try, and restore the backed up tivoapp if it no worky)

[fixn278]

(I supposed I can try, and restore the backed up tivoapp if it no worky)

Bingo...

I think they may be the same, but in the abesence of an answer, that is the best approach.

[bigrig]

Nope, f is different -

3.1.5 echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunc of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6978700
3.1.5d echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunc of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6984812
3.1.5e echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunc of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6984700
3.1.5f echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunc of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6984684

[tkoer]

Hi,

Is anybody having the problem on disabling the encryption on HR10-250 with 3.1.5f-01-2-357? I am having problem and cannot turn the encryption off. I have already search through the forum but cannot find the solution.

What I have done:
"0x006A93EC 0320F809 -> 3C020000"
$mount -o remount,rw /
$cd /tvbin
$cp -p tivoapp tivoapp.good
$mv tivoapp tivoapp.tmp
$cp -p tivoapp.good tivoapp
$echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunk of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6984684
$chmod 755 tivoapp
$mount -o remount,ro /
$reboot


What I got:
bash-2.02# cd /var/mfs_ftp
bash-2.02# ./ciphercheck.tcl
CipherCheck.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK

TyStream encryption is currently enabled.

Here is the status of your current recordings:

Encrypted CSO Set Stream Name
--------- ------- -----------------------------------------------------------
Yes No Firebird
Yes No Firebird
Yes No HD Getaways
Yes Yes Battlestar Galactica
Yes Yes The Canadian Rockies: Banff & Jasper
Yes Yes Thomas & Friends
Yes Yes HD Traveler
Yes Yes MotorWeek
Yes Yes Eagles Farewell I Tour

bash-2.02#
bash-2.02# ./csoscout.tcl
CSOScout.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK
Cleaning CSO keys for nonencrypted streams..........
Done!
bash-2.02#
bash-2.02# ./ciphercheck.tcl
CipherCheck.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK

TyStream encryption is currently enabled.

Here is the status of your current recordings:

Encrypted CSO Set Stream Name
--------- ------- -----------------------------------------------------------
Yes No Firebird
Yes No Firebird
Yes No HD Getaways
Yes Yes Battlestar Galactica
Yes Yes The Canadian Rockies: Banff & Jasper
Yes Yes Thomas & Friends
Yes Yes HD Traveler
Yes Yes MotorWeek
Yes Yes Eagles Farewell I Tour

bash-2.02#
------------------------------------------------------


I have even verified the offset bytes in tivoapp are indeed changed through a hex editor.

Is there any other setup that I missed?

Thanks!!

[ace ventura]

i have just got past that error when i hacked my hr10-250 3.1.5f, have you solved your problem yet?

[tkoer]

No, I have not yet to make it work, please help!!

[ace ventura]

okay check out these threads here (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?p=226352) , here (http://64.21.8.90/forum/showthread.php?t=39207&page=3&pp=15&highlight=s2_unscramble) , and here (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37015&page=1&pp=15) . Read through them, trust me i know it is alot of reading but with out the knowledge you can not have the power. Then once you read through them all! Skim through them for key points and read just those posts. Then think about them. And then you cna go from there. It sux but it is part of the learning curve.

[rcw]

Will a Linksys WUSB54GP work inplace of the Linksys USB200M?

[ace ventura]

well see now u're in the realm of wireless, and i have to give answer i don't like to give. I not sure of the thread of the top of my head but if u do a search for wireless adapters we will get a link to a post were some one made it work.

[rcw]

I just a 250GB from Tigerdirect for $80 after rebate. Made a backup of the drive and when I run killhdinitrd from the floppy I get the following error:
Fatal: invalid px header (not a valid kernel image)

[PlainBill]

I just a 250GB from Tigerdirect for $80 after rebate. Made a backup of the drive and when I run killhdinitrd from the floppy I get the following error:
Fatal: invalid px header (not a valid kernel image)
Details!!! What command did you type? How did you determine the active partition? Do you understand what you are doing, or are you typing commands blindly?

PlainBill

[rcw]

I typed the command per the documentation.
mount /dev/fd0 /floppy
/floppy/killhd~1 /dev/hdc6

Did a little more searching on the web and found that the command will not work with 3.1.5f kernel. I need to get a copy of the 3.1.5 kernel.

[jneuman]

I have a new HR10-250 HDTivo box, reverted back to the pre killhdinitrd'd 3.1.5 kernal from the PTVupgrade extended 4.0.1 cd. I have the HR10 connected via a Linksys USB200M adaptor, which runs to a Dlink-G280 bridge, and a Linksys WRT54G router.

I've set a static IP for the bridge as 192.168.1.102
netmask as 255.255.255.0
default gateway as 192.168.1.1

I've configured the rc.sysinit.author with the following:
ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.103 broadcast 192.168.1.255 netmask 255.255.255.0
ping -c 10 192.168.1.255 #<< add as an attempt to wake up the bridge
sleep 60

I am not able to ping either the bridge or the HR10 after rebooting serveral times. I have power and nick lights on the USB200M, but no network activity lights.

If I connect my laptop to the bridge directly, I am able to successfully connect to the LAN, after which, if I disconnect from the bridge, and access the LAN via WiFi, I am than able to ping the bridge. If I reconnect the HR10 to the bridge, and reboot, I'm still able to ping the bridge, but not the HR10. So I restart both the bridge and the HR10, and I'm back to the starting point of not being able to ping either, once again...

Any suggestions would be GREATLY appreciated. :D

[LocoMoco]

I've heard that you can only use the version 1 USB200M.

[aaron3421]

There is information on there on getting the V2 USB200M working.

I did not update /etc/hotplug/usb.map (I did not have this directory/file). I downloaded the usb backport modules and added the appropriate usbnet.o to /lib/modules.

My rc.sysinit.author snippet:

#load usb and ethernet modules
insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o
insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o
insmod /lib/modules/usbnet.o
sleep 15

I did not update the other modules (they are stock).

I started with 3.1.5f, btw.

[heyslim]

Hello All:
I am not trying to be an *****, but I have read, and read and read some more.

Can anybody offer a link on how to dd the kernel?

I have the kernel on my fat32 drive.

My connections are:

Hda fat32 drive
hdb cdrom
hdc 400 gb seagate

I have restored mfsrestore backup.bak from /mnt (hda drive)

I did the bootpage and it came back with hdc7

I have tried to mount

mount /dev/hdc /tivo and it will not work, but it did with the following command

mount /dev/hdc /root

I did a gzip on the fat32 drive and it changed the file name of the other kernel, but that is where I ran into problems.

I am sorry for sounding bad with this, but I need some help.

Thank you very much!

[PlainBill]

I've only posted this a few dozen times. Maybe this time I'll remember to bookmark it....

This assumes a killhdinitrd kernel named vmlinux.px.gz is in the /tivo directory of the fat32 drive. Adjust the name / unpack it as required. Type the stuff in bold, the rest of the line is an explanation.

mkdir /cdrive create a mount point for the fat32 drive

mount -t fat32 /dev/hda1 /cdrive

cd /cdrive/tivo (optional) Change to the directory with vmlinux.px.gz

gzip -d vmlinux.px.gz (optional) uncompress the file

ls (optional) check the name (usually will be vmlinux.px)

bootpage -p determine the active partition set. The kernel partition is 1 less than the root partition.

dd if=/cdrive/tivo/vmlinux.px of=/dev/hdc6 bs=1024 Adjust the name and partition as required (screw this up and you might as well start over).

PlainBill

[heyslim]

I am learning alot working with linux.

However I seem to keep loosing my files.

I thought it would be a good idea to make a backup of my drive at "restore points"
so I would not have to start from scratch.

I am doing an mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so to my /hda/mnt dir.

Could this be causing problems?

I first put my files in /var/hack, but after reading a bit, I created made a mod subfolder for /var/utils/mod.

After I made a backup, and put drive back in tivo to boot up again the respective files were gone.

Am I doing something seriously wrong?
Thank you.

[WinVo]

This guide was great. Purchased my HR10-250 in Jan 2006 from Best Buy. Did a backup of the drive and then followed this guide.

Unfortunately, once my HR10-250 booted up I noticed no lights on the USB network adapter (Netgear FA120). I swore I double-checked all my spelling when typing in the rc.sysinit.author file. I took out the drive and put it back into my Linux machine. I wanted to make sure one more time I didn't mispell anything in any files. When I remounted the drive all the files I created were gone.

/mnt/mnt7/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author - GONE
/mnt/mnt7/.profile - GONE

I properly unmounted the drive and halted the system. Tivo boots up properly but no network.

Is the DirecTV Tivo wiping any custom startup scripts?

If anyone has any advice please let me know. :)

[Jamie]

Is the DirecTV Tivo wiping any custom startup scripts?Yes, that's what the initrd does, and that's why you have to "kill" it. Look for killhdinitrd. Make sure you know which partition has the kernel in it your tivo is booting from. i have a feeling the guide you are following may be incomplete on this point. Look back an PlainBill's last post in this thread for more details.

[PlainBill]

This guide was great. Purchased my HR10-250 in Jan 2006 from Best Buy. Did a backup of the drive and then followed this guide.

Unfortunately, once my HR10-250 booted up I noticed no lights on the USB network adapter (Netgear FA120). I swore I double-checked all my spelling when typing in the rc.sysinit.author file. I took out the drive and put it back into my Linux machine. I wanted to make sure one more time I didn't mispell anything in any files. When I remounted the drive all the files I created were gone.

/mnt/mnt7/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author - GONE
/mnt/mnt7/.profile - GONE

I properly unmounted the drive and halted the system. Tivo boots up properly but no network.

Is the DirecTV Tivo wiping any custom startup scripts?

If anyone has any advice please let me know. :)


Let's try the Socratic method (which might seem a little like the sarcastic method). Deal with it.

The guide is great (you say), but you keep losing all the files you load onto the system. It seems either the guide isn't so great, or you're failing to follow it. Bear in mind 'guides' suchas this have a bad reputation; problems like yours are one of the reasons.

If you haven't already done so, read Captain Video's TiVo Hacking 101 (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=37058).

Next, read up on the 'Chain of Trust' (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showpost.php?p=197479&postcount=2) by which the TiVo protects it's integrity.

And then read about killhdinitrd (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36693).

PlainBill

[rrosnowski]

Hi,

Is anybody having the problem on disabling the encryption on HR10-250 with 3.1.5f-01-2-357? I am having problem and cannot turn the encryption off. I have already search through the forum but cannot find the solution.

What I have done:
"0x006A93EC 0320F809 -> 3C020000"
$mount -o remount,rw /
$cd /tvbin
$cp -p tivoapp tivoapp.good
$mv tivoapp tivoapp.tmp
$cp -p tivoapp.good tivoapp
$echo -ne "\x3C\x02\x00\x00" | dd conv=notrunk of=tivoapp bs=1 seek=6984684
$chmod 755 tivoapp
$mount -o remount,ro /
$reboot


What I got:
bash-2.02# cd /var/mfs_ftp
bash-2.02# ./ciphercheck.tcl
CipherCheck.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK

TyStream encryption is currently enabled.

Here is the status of your current recordings:

Encrypted CSO Set Stream Name
--------- ------- -----------------------------------------------------------
Yes No Firebird
Yes No Firebird
Yes No HD Getaways
Yes Yes Battlestar Galactica
Yes Yes The Canadian Rockies: Banff & Jasper
Yes Yes Thomas & Friends
Yes Yes HD Traveler
Yes Yes MotorWeek
Yes Yes Eagles Farewell I Tour

bash-2.02#
bash-2.02# ./csoscout.tcl
CSOScout.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK
Cleaning CSO keys for nonencrypted streams..........
Done!
bash-2.02#
bash-2.02# ./ciphercheck.tcl
CipherCheck.tcl by AlphaWolf_HK

TyStream encryption is currently enabled.

Here is the status of your current recordings:

Encrypted CSO Set Stream Name
--------- ------- -----------------------------------------------------------
Yes No Firebird
Yes No Firebird
Yes No HD Getaways
Yes Yes Battlestar Galactica
Yes Yes The Canadian Rockies: Banff & Jasper
Yes Yes Thomas & Friends
Yes Yes HD Traveler
Yes Yes MotorWeek
Yes Yes Eagles Farewell I Tour

bash-2.02#
------------------------------------------------------


I have even verified the offset bytes in tivoapp are indeed changed through a hex editor.

Is there any other setup that I missed?

Thanks!!


Anyone solve this? i read the links below and nothing has worked..

[rrosnowski]

./ciphercheck.tcl is deprecated.. i gotcha

[nhlpens66]

What to do with an older, hacked series 2 tivo?

I haven't seen this specifically addressed, can I watch hd shows using HMO on a hacked series 2?

[cheer]

Unless it's an HR10-250, you can't watch HD content. And the HR10-250 doesn't do HMO/MRV anyway.

[rcw]

I just received a replacement HR10-250 for my old HR10-250 that I hacked and was damaged by a lightning strike near the house (The hard drive was not damaged, just the tuners). Can I just take the hack hard drive from the old unit and place it in the new unit or do I need to start from square one?

[PlainBill]

I just received a replacement HR10-250 for my old HR10-250 that I hacked and was damaged by a lightning strike near the house (The hard drive was not damaged, just the tuners). Can I just take the hack hard drive from the old unit and place it in the new unit or do I need to start from square one?
You can use the drive from the old unit. You will have to run 51killer (part of AlphaWolf's Series 2 binaries). If encryption was disabled you will even be able to watch your recordings.

PlainBill

[eclipsme]

Unless it's an HR10-250, you can't watch HD content. And the HR10-250 doesn't do HMO/MRV anyway.

Is this true no matter what software version it is?

I mean the MRV part. Will networking and TyTools work?

Thanks,
Harvey

[stevel]

No MRV. HMO does work with 6.3. Networking and TyTools/mfs_ftp works, so you can fake MRV by using mfs_ftp to move a show to your PC and then to the other TiVo.

[eclipsme]

No MRV. HMO does work with 6.3. Networking and TyTools/mfs_ftp works, so you can fake MRV by using mfs_ftp to move a show to your PC and then to the other TiVo.

OK. Thanks. I am going to give it a try.

[pjo1966]

I Zippered my drive and am trying to pick up from Step 10. I FTPd the files over to the specified directory with no problem. Step 11 was no biggie. I get stumped at Step 12, which is installing basic unix commands:

HD 1-bash# cd /var/hack/bin
HD 1-bash# cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.tar
bash: ../devbin-s2.tar: No such file or directory

Any thoughts?

[stevel]

Reread the Zipper instructions which tell you not to look here for help.

[PlainBill]

I Zippered my drive and am trying to pick up from Step 10. I FTPd the files over to the specified directory with no problem. Step 11 was no biggie. I get stumped at Step 12, which is installing basic unix commands:



Any thoughts?

Yeah, I think you're an id10t.

PlainBill

[labbie48]

I second that emotion! Pull up your zipper......

[pjo1966]

I forgot that the second rule of Zipper Club was not to mention Zipper Club. My apologies.

[Butch]

No MRV. HMO does work with 6.3. Networking and TyTools/mfs_ftp works, so you can fake MRV by using mfs_ftp to move a show to your PC and then to the other TiVo.

Would you know if HME works with 6.3
I am running 6.3 and have HMO & HME but when I try to use the HME with gallon the Tivo reboots every time

[stevel]

I am using Galleon and HME with 6.3b and no reboots. Works fine, though the poor TiVo CPU gets a bit swamped when it is recording a HD show at the same time as something is streaming from Galleon.