New TiVo Hacker needs some advice

[bfrd]

I am new to TiVo hacking, although I have been using TiVo for many years. I just got a new unit Philips DR708. I would really like to enable some of the web/lan features. Mostly the ability to add programs to the to-do list and clean off older shows. Pulling files to my computer would be nice, but that is rather secondary. I am a software developer in real life so changing code doesn't really scare me at all. However, are the hard drive kits from ptvupgrade worth the expense.

Any other tips are welcomed.

[AhoyMatey]

Read the stickies in the Newbie forum, and be prepared to read (and search!) for a couple weeks before you even start hacking. You will need a new harddrive for hacking (you don't want to screw up the original).

You can check in the files forums for some of the tools. Hinsdale's guide is good for the drive copy part. You'll need to start with killhdinitrd on your new drive to break the chain of trust to add hacks.

You could also use some of the "guides" (normally written by newbies) to try and understand some of the steps involved with hacking the TiVo. I wouldn't follow them blindly though.

[classicsat]

However, are the hard drive kits from ptvupgrade worth the expense.

Any other tips are welcomed.

How good are you with tools, material, and your hands, so as you can make your own, and does it seem economical to DIY, or buy the kit?
In my position I'd build, as I have materials, tools, and skills to build my own.

[ljvk61]

... I just got a new unit Philips DR708. I would really like to enable some of the web/lan features....

...are the hard drive kits from ptvupgrade worth the expense.

Any other tips are welcomed.

I just got a pair of 708s a couple of weeks ago. They shipped with SW version 3.1.1e. The first thing I did was unplug them from the phone line so that they would not upgrade to SW version 6.2. Don't know if it was necessary or not, but doing so left me in my own personal comfort zone and allows me to hack and upgrade to 6.2 on my own schedule.

I have not used the HD kits from PTVUpgrade, so I can't give an opinion. I have used drives from Maxtor and WDC successfully. The noise levels from the PTV kits may be quieter than drives purchased elsewhere. Just depends on the models.

Unless you are very bold, always restore your factory drive to the drive you will hack following the Hinsdale HOWTO. I personally did not expand the drives and probably will not until I migrate to SW version 6.2.

The most time consuming part of the hacking for me was getting the wlan-ng package working, but I use SSID, WEP and DHCP.

Practically all the information you need is here and much of the general linux information, if not here, can be found using Google.

Good luck,

ljvk61