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Are you testing the power on the 12V rail WHILE the drive is connected? Perhaps it's failing under load.

Yep. Working on both of those points at the moment. :-)

At this point I don't have physical access to a Roamio, so for me that's one of the first things I'd like to get taken care of. At the moment I'm just trying to keep an eye out for Roamio Plus...

So after looking through what people are doing on the Xbox One side to dump the NAND via the SD card method, I think it may have merit.

Now to find a Roamio to start attacking with hot pointy...

Most likely the JTAG fuse in the Broadcom CPU is blown. There's no reason they wouldn't blow it, and since it was blown on the S4, it's got to be blown here as well. Still, no reason not to try...

I'm not worried about getting the chip back on as much as I am about accidentally corrupting the chip with the SD reader method. If that happens, the TiVo is still dead.

I should note that I have yet to be able to see a Roamio in person, but if we have a sure-fire way of pulling the data off, perhaps it's wroth getting a Roamio to start dumping code...

I have access to IR rework equipment now, so I can pop off the chip.

I'm currently trying to get Xeltek to add support for this chip so I can dump the firmware directly.

I can't tell if you're joking or not...

www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?64058-TiVo-HD-PSU-Repair-Service

I've been doing that for almost two years. :-P

In the many, many PSU's I've...

Actually, I've observed flashing green to refer to many types of faults. Everything from a sub-optimal connection to the PROM on a socketed unit to PSU failures.

Based off of the age of the unit,...

Does anyone have any good ultra-high res photos of some Roamio's?

Development will likely shift to the new platform directly, hopefully being able to re-use what we've learned from the S4 so far.

Hey Milder,

If you can, please post the actual log files as attachments. There might be other relevant data in other sections of the file that isn't visible in the quoted sections. :-)

One of my friends finally found some time to break out the fuming nitric acid...

Here's a teaser for anyone who's curious...
...

Looks like someone finally came through and emailed me a bunch of photos of some Premiere 4 internals, and it still uses the same flash chip:
...

I have a good number of photos in the first few pages of this very thread... ;-)

Your post made me smile because I went through the same thought process last week and probably performed the same searches you did just now. :-)

So here I am looking for extra chips to decap and I come along this: http://parts.americaii.com/PartDetail/93d408ccfa082e0b01bcec0aab4539e7/BCM7413ZKFEB01G

According to their very professional and...

In case anyone was curious, we've now sacrificed a number of Premiere's while trying to extract hardware components for analysis.

This beaten and battered CPU is from number three:

7547

The...

I'm *still* looking for high resolution photos of a quad tuner TiVo such as the Premiere 4, previously known as the Premiere Elite.

If one of you folk have these, please stop for a moment and post...

Google Cache still works. ;-)

Another possibility is not to worry about speed when in "ghost" mode or whatever we decide to call it. Since we don't really care about fast I/O during boot, we could use a cheaper, low-speed device...

It's interesting you bring this up, because this is precisely the type of device suggested by one of the other researchers back in 2010. Unfortunately, it seems that the amount of development that...

PM issues have been fixed.

One thing that we found during research in 2010 was that the new BCM7413 CPU has different security bits that can be set that enable or secure boot and disable the JTAG debug port on the board. One...

Before we start spending money, I'd like to continue bouncing around some ideas with the rest to see where money is most wisely spent. While the new quad tuner TiVo's do appear to have a completely...

Can I be frank with you for a moment? I think you're being a bit unfair to TiVo here regarding the "shadiness" of a lack of formal mechanism for recycling electronics. This is not a problem with...

How is your unit a scam? I'm not sure that word means what you think it means. ;-)

Seriously though, if your TiVo is hanging it's possible you have a failing hard disk. If it's a Series3, this...

Hey Lug,

I don't think lrhorer was trying to offend you or accuse you of anything. Rather the "theft of service" comment was in response to your desire to use the TiVo device without paying for...

If possible, can someone post hi-res photos of the internals of the TiVo Premiere 4? As much as possible. Ideally, both sides of the motherboard would be good but I'll settle for just the top for...

Can I just ask an oddball question to folk here?

If anyone has purchased an new premiere within the last couple of months, can you please look inside and take a photo of the PROM chip inside? The...

I know this is probably a huge stretch for DDB, but...

I hate having to use my PC to easily reply to posts and PM's. There are a few apps out there such as Tapatalk or Forum Runner that allow...

Wow! I wonder if that's the first case of an infected TiVo!

Congrats! :-)

Hmm...

It's hard to say what's going on because it sounds so suspiciously like a PSU problem... I think the best thing to do is to test the unit with a known-good PSU. If you have another TiVo...

Bad caps on the PSU is the most likely culprit. PM me with a close-up photo of your PSU and I can tell if anything obvious is up with them.

Premiere Elite has been requisitioned. More hardware details coming soon when I return in late October...

Donation button now fixed. :-)

I had no idea this problem was even happening as no one has mentioned it to me yet. I just spent the past half hour trying to fix the error but to no avail. Others also seem to have had similar...

Yes, this would still be considered to be the Series4 platform.

You could just move the lifetime sub to another 648 box by swapping the hard disks and the crypto chip...

FWIW, there is currently no publicly known hack available for the S4 that would allow you do remove the copy protection flags from your recordings.

Yep. You need a PROM replacement to get it to run any unsigned code.

Really neat info!

Did you contact the MFG for the PSU itself?

Oh man...the lolz are strong here...

TiVo began storing the TSN on the CPU beginning with the TiVo HD, so the only way to to move TSN's between units is with an IR rework station and BGA reballing kit.

Your symptom is definitely pointing to a PROM connection problem of some kind. Even with no hard disk installed you should get a solid green light on the front and a "TiVo Sunrise" on the TV.
...

It isn't, and there's a lot of...tact...that goes into handling release of information.

While I can't speak for everyone, I can tell you that a few of us are continuing to peck away at the S4 to...

Your post confuses me. Who is three years too late? For what?

Why do you need the pinout?

Did you break a pin and are trying to figure out if it was an important one?

The TSN on Series3 HD device is stored on a separate crypto chip which in theory could be transplanted between boards. Realistically, since TiVo allows one to move a sub between units of the same...

The BCM CPU used on the Series4 platform has a "factory mode" that is disabled at time of production. Once this is disabled by blowing a fuse on the CPU, it also kills JTAG.

Currently the only...

I'm currently traveling abroad, so pardon the brevity:

- The TiVo HD appears to store the TSN on-die and cannot be "transplanted" like the Series3 HD.
- TiVo generally allows you to move a...

Indeed. I remember dealing with this back in the days of the original Athlon as well. :-)

Still, it's incredibly frustrating to see it affecting modern electronics.

I will still remain in contact with others on the project and continue work during my hiatus.

Although S3's aren't "immune" per se, I haven't personally seen any S3's with distended or leaking capacitors.

It mostly has to do with the quality of capacitor used in the power supply, and as...

The Capacitor Plague has hit our beloved TiVo's! :-(


http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Bad_Capacitor_01.jpg

Of the 9 TiVo HD's that I recently worked on during my most recent...

Just checking in for everyone. We are currently doing some holiday Series4 hacking behind the scenes here at our secret underground lair. No specifics yet, but there is hope. :-)

Yes, but there is no full quote regarding the Porridge bird in the flash. Only the words "the Porridge Bird". The actual text that follows (German) is Monty Python.

Although I've never seen that issue with modern TiVo's (third generation and newer) I do recall that some S2's have had failed IR receivers in the past. It's possible that this is the case for you....

Thanks ronny. :-)

Let's try to keep this thread on-topic. :-)

No problem, man. Glad you were able to find what you were looking for. :-)

I apologize if the response came off as particularly demeaning.

The issue at hand is that far too often people don't want to put in the work of finding information that has already been discussed...

Search harder.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tivo+series4+hacking&l=1

It also happens to be the _only_ thread in the "Series4 Development" forum.

To the best of my understanding, the pairing process simply record the CableCARD ID and the Host ID of the slot and then sending it a hit. As long as the Host ID doesn't change, a simple hit should...

The short answer?

A lot. :-)

All of the crypto keys for the CableCARD are stored on the card itself, as well as the pairing data.

Worst-case scenario you will have to have them just send the card a another hit. Re-pairing...

I don't suppose we could get this thread moved to the newly created Series4 forum, could we?

In a practical manner the short answer is no to everything.

Before you or anyone else begins to debate the issue for the n+1 time, please use the search feature. It has been discussed ad-nauseum.

Alright folks, I'm going to have to go on another hiatus for a few weeks. The Gen07 platform has sucked up a good deal of my time, and I feel we've got some really good work done so far.

HUGE...

The boot code on the StrataFlash chip seems to be locked up pretty tight.

In-depth investigation and tests have revealed that the CPU checks for validity of the flash before executing code from...

Just did some more range tests and was able to get usable reception upstairs while my TiVo was downstairs directly beneath me.

I'd say that's fairly workable. :-P

Concerns about the piggyback method are the least of our worries at the moment. Right now we still fear that any change made to the StrataFlash whatsoever will result in a non-boot situation, as the...

Found while browsing the flash:


Kernel release keypc-‹8uÖ:*ô#“–ak*A¯òöíÖ†This prime number is brought to you by Dave Platt of TiVo...

TSOP56 adapter has arrived!

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4015/4493738637_164bf4b476.jpg

Here's what we get before passing the DISABLE_HDCP variable:

Running boot Stage D_PreMfs scripts

Remote control is TIVO

MFS partition on /dev/sda10

CRC error in key (B112B4BA,2C10F585)...

My initial placement of the adapter in the rear of the TiVo was fine while the case was open, but when closed the range was neutered. You had to be all but right on top of the box in order to...

Currently not very good, but it's something I'm working on. The location that I am currently placing the adapter is hurting it quite a bit, and I'm going to try moving the adapter up into the front...

Preliminary tests confirm my previous suspicion that the PROM now contains keys specific to the model of TiVo it came from.

Swapping the PROM with the PROM from a different TiVo Premiere resulted...

Alright, it's been quite the long day, but it's now come to an awesome and eventful close.

As I already had mentioned previously, I already managed to remove the original PROM from the board via...

I honestly hadn't tried it yet, but I suppose it's true. I just dislike leaving any residue on there because it seems to have a tendency to hand-off to other connectors and pads on contact. I'm...

Care to elaborate on this method?

Edit: I'm assuming you're talking about heating the Chip Quick that's on the component and then blasting the material off of the leads, but this still leaves a...

Since I had the TSOP sockets already on hand, I figured I would try my hand at socketing my board in preparation for future work. Little did I know the frustration that would ensure. First of all,...

Interesting thought. This would certainly explain the progressive "downgrading" of the case observed from Gen05 to Gen07. The case styles seem to keep getting uglier, with the original Gen05...

Search Results for "TiVo Premiere":

http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7112&stc=1&d=1270410424

:-)

Thanks for the great analysis. That sounds like a good plan to move forward with once the adapter arrives.

Even if secure boot and other checks are enabled, it's possible that there could be...

Eventually got the flags set correctly and got my terminal program to behave properly.

In case anyone is curious, I've attached the full console log from the complete bootup, with timestamps.

That makes a great deal of sense. I'm not sure why I didn't think of that. :-P

Perhaps it's the sleep deprecation talking, but I'm having some trouble booting from the PROM menu using the additional dsscon flags.

Here's what I'm executing:
boot -3 dsscon=true...

So far one of the downsides I've noticed so far is if you're trying to access the PROM boot menu, the initial BT connection isn't fast enough. On a cold boot, it's probably going to be anywhere from...

Well I have a feeling once the TSOP56 adapter for my programmer arrives from Hong Kong we'll have some real answers. I have everything else, including a few fresh StrataFlash chips and sockets.
...

Yep, you can rename each module to anything you want. I currently have mine set to "TiVo Premiere TTL" which is what it shows up as when searching for BT devices, but you could have them named "TiVo...

Hello Everyone!

For quite some time now, I've been wanting to create a "slick" way of connecting to the TTL console. Initially, I had wanted to create a snap-in adapter for the Gen06 platform...

As I suspected, SW1 near the battery acts as a reset switch, which will be great for bench testing and such. Now you can reset the TiVo by shorting the terminals instead of having to unplug power...

I was finally able to get my hands on my beloved FTDI TTL cable again, courtesy of DigiKey. I crimped on a fresh 4-pin connector a-la-TiVo HD and plugged it in.
...

DigiKey parts arrived today. I will be playing around with the serial port first. I suspect that configuration and interface are identical to the TiVo HD.

Looks like a couple more people chipped in and we were at $75 to go. In in the interest of "getting things done" I did place an order for a CX1011 socket adapter earlier this morning because there...

After the test chips and sockets that were ordered we still have about $215 to go.

I finally got around to connecting the Series4 drive to my PC to grab some of the partitions off of it.

The good news is that I now have gzip'd copies of partitions 1-9. The bad news is that...

While it would be marginally easier to simply add a new flash and cut some traces to disable the old one, I'm not sure the trade-off is worth it.

Advantages:

+ Doesn't require the hot-air...

03/30: Enough donations came in to cover the cost of some sockets and test chips. Still a bit away from the socket adapter needed for programming, but there are other things to look at while we're...

Alright, I decided to completely strip down my Series4 to the bare board and take some photos for your voyeuristic pleasure.

Top:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4475518170_7cef6f9df9_b.jpg...

The main reason the discussions don't go anywhere, and as you've probably already read, the TiVo is an extremely purpose-built box. It's designed to do one thing, and one thing only: TiVo
...

In other news, in my INFINITE WISDOM I sold my own TTL adapter a while ago to someone who really wanted one, thinking that I would simply replace it later. It seems that I forgot to replace it......

Well, I decided to cancel my pre-order and just pick one up from Best Buy today. So, I now have a Premiere in-hand but alas no other hardware to interface with the PROM yet.

I'll try to tinker...

We should keep in mind that the PROM on this platform does have OTP bits that can be set, blocking further write access to the chip. If such bits have been set, then creating any type of add-on...

Something like this may indeed be possible, but the initial design would very likely take a great deal of work and significant skill. In matters of console modchips, the sheer amount of work needed...

I was thinking the same thing, but we can use this to our (small) advantage. Whereas before there was some question as to whether or not TiVo was capable of remote-flashing the PROM, setting the OTP...

I guess it depends on how much you're concerned about damaging the original chip. The leads are certainly far more fragile and it's very easy to get them bent out of shape if you're not careful. ...

After researching a few different test socket vendors, it seems that Meritec seems to make something that would be of great use to those of us who will be busy trying to work on the PROM:
...

Updated some info regarding the PROM and the possible serial interface.

PROM has changed drastically and has some new "security" features which I'm still investigating. Serial appears to be the...

New link with delicious info: http://mysite.verizon.net/~fiosdvr/prem_review_01.pdf

Link courtesy of tivo4mevo. Info couresty of bkdtv.

Is there any chance someone got their hands on an early unit? Many Best Buys received their shipments early last week, and a few stores accidentally sold a few before the price in the system was...

Nope, it really is that narrow.Scraping too large of an area isn't a problem, although scraping to deep will remove the trace completely.The problem with normal razor blades and sanding paper is lack...

That said, if you want to fix it _right_, one could follow this method: http://www.circuitrework.com/guides/4-7-2.shtml

Although that method requires purchasing special pad repair stickers.

You could _very_ carefully use an x-acto knife to scrape away the green solder mask from the trace and via, solder the rest of the pads for the socket, then solder a thin copper wire from the socket...

Sounds like you may not have the correct RouterPlus module installed. Re-check that you have the correct module installed.

Well, I've got the TiVo Premiere pre-ordered, so let's see how this dance goes...

Street price as opposed to... :-)

Reserved for future info on possible changes in kernel.

So far, here's what we know about the TiVo Premiere's PROM:


Intel Strataflash JS28F640P30B85
Datasheet: http://www.xilinx.com/products/boards/ml505/datasheets/30666604.pdf
Digikey Part:...

The TiVo Premiere appears to use the same TTL serial interface as the Gen06 platform (TiVo HD). The unit uses 5V TTL logic to communicate via serial, and any adapters that work with the TiVo HD will...

===============
General Information
===============

So, the Series4 has been been announced, and it looks like it's got some new hardware under the hood. According to Dave Zatz, the platform is...

I think the OP was talking about basic TiVo features and not "TiVo Basic" features. The first being core advertised features that TiVo offers, and the latter bing a type and level of service as...

No worries there Lou.

It's clear that everyone here supports you and can vouch for you.

This matter should hopefully be considered settled. :-)

If I recall correctly, you also have to install routerplus. Did you do so?

Over the years every TiVo except the Series3 HD (OLED Model) has had several PROM revisions.

I haven't found a single bit of evidence that these PROM changes actually improve anything.

The only...

As far as I can tell it's not a separate binary, but rather the tivoapp program itself.

Hey Dave! Welcome to DDB! There are currently two people offering socketing services on the forum, and you can find both of us in the "For Sale/Trade" section on this forum.

Running a search query for "tivo drive in linux" resulted in this thread: http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34501

rayce, you're a fantastic example of what someone can do when they have the desire to learn and get stuff done. TiVo hacking is an activity that requires a high degree of self motivation, and you've...

It's been a while since this list has needed an update, but I've finally been able to personally read the new Gen06 v1.06 code off of two physical PROM's so I can verify that the MD5 sum is valid.
...

If you haven't modified your PLCC socket in any way (i.e. snipping off the bottom to make it easier to solder) and it's been soldered correctly, then you can't push the chip in too far. Make sure...

I'm not sure exactly what your question is here but the TiVo should boot to the Welcome screen regardless of the state of the hard disk. If you're getting a flashing green LED, I would make sure...

I haven't experienced any of these limitations on my cable provider yet but I imagine it would be possible to clear the CCI flags on a hacked unit.

I'd say pull the disk from the TiVo and connect it to a PC, put your necessary tools, files, and patches on a USB drive, boot to the latest version of MFSLive, and apply your hacks that way.

Well, I'd really like to know exactly WHAT TiVo changed to resolve this issue. So far, I can't find any major changes in components used. That means that if it exists, the change is on a smaller...

You know, I'm not even really quite sure. I know there are *several* people on TCF that were told by high level TiVo techs to wait until May to exchange their Series3 because they were producing a...

Upon further review I can only find small differences between the batch numbers of the encoder chips and CableCARD controller.

The surprising part? The numbers indicate that the chips being used...

For reference I am comparing a Series3 unit with a build date of 04.24.07 (Motherboard Rev K2) and a new "reworked" Series3 unit with a build date of 05.13.08 (Motherboard Rev K5).

So far I don't...

So, the word on the grapevine is that TiVo has recently produced a limited number of new Series3 units with a reworked tuner that allegedly resolves some pixelation issues and whatnot.

Since I...

If you're REALLY in a pinch you could always purchase an InstantCake disc from DVRupgrade.

The difficulty is on par with removing and socketing the PROM chip, with the added risk that if you cook your Atmel chip, you won't be able to find a $2 replacement.

The TSN is stored on the Atmel crypto chip which would need to be swapped with the crypto chip from the new unit. The model of the old and new units must match exactly.

Sorry, "BST" is frequently used as short for "Buy/Sell/Trade" or as it pertains to this forum, "For Sale/Trade".

Here's the link to the thread:...

We'd be on a short timetable, but please refer to my thread in the BST section for more info.

I don't have DTV service but it is nice to see the two companies continuing to support these boxes until the bitter end. Many others would have abandoned support long ago.

I've never offer or expect support on an eBay item in the first place, so I don't see how a TiVo would be any different.

Actually, I posted this on both TCF and DDB and it seems the TCF thread got far, far more attention. Zatz saw it on TCF, blogged it, and then it got linked by Engadget. That said, I haven't seen...

It would appear that the <STATUS> field has 3 states: LOCAL, REMOTE, and RECORDING

It would appear so far that LOCAL refers to the current tuner being watched, REMOTE refers to the tuner not being...

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