HowTos Only

[captain_video]

A while back I promised to get a FAQ together for this forum. Unfortunately I have neither the time nor the expertise to tackle this at the present time (bit off a bit more than I can chew). As a consolation, I have decided to put together a compilation of various files that have been scattered to the four corners of this forum as well as files located at other sites. I will add more files as time permits. If there are any files that have been posted elsewhere that are obvious by their absence here, kindly send me a PM with the name of the file and possibly a link and I will see that a link is supplied here as well. Please note that downloads on the Xtreme-EMU site may be a little out of date, primarily for the various utilities and such. The 2.5Xtreme images and upgrades should be the current files (all of the links to the Xtreme-EMU site will probably take you to the home page; click on the XTREME link in the header; may not work in Netscape so use IE). Also, some of the links below may not take you to the EXACT post containing the download link but if you scroll up or down a few posts you should have no trouble locating it.


Files for Download

Tivostuff Great file download site containing Xtreme, Xtreme upgrades, and most, if not all, of the utilities & Tivo programs listed here. Kudos to dsboyce8624 for this site.

2.5Xtreme Installation Guide

Kraven's Upgrade and installation instructions - Kraven's 2.5Xtreme Upgrade

fixup02c.zip Contains fixsub for creating a pseudo lifetime sub

fixdemo Eliminates demo mode when using a DTivo

sc.tcl PGM's script for restoring Showcases to an Xtremed DTivo

kernelpatch Kernel patch for those not using Xtreme

noppv12.zip Removes the PPV flag to allow future recordings

noscramble.zip Turns off scrambling on a DTivo to permit extraction

tivoweb HTTP/WWW server for Xtreme

TurboNet/AirNet software Download page for TurboNet and AirNet software and drivers

MFSTools 2.0, non-Joliet version Alternate link for MFSTools that is bootable; Hinsdale's latest How To guide has more info on using MFSTools than the supplied readme; see link in other thread below.

Kazymyr's Boot CD Bootable CD image with lots of great Tivo utilities

logsnull.zip Fix for the logs problem

twebmp3v09.zip TivoWeb MP3 addon

TeraTerm Pro 32 Telnet program for communicating with a DTivo via serial port or ethernet connection

[captain_video]

Here's some additional links that I think may be of use. This is still a work in progress and there are many more links and files I am planning on adding to the list as time permits. If you know of any that should be included, please send me an e-mail or PM with the file name or site URL and any pertinent links so I can find it and I'll gladly include it in the list. Enjoy!

File Downloads - Continued

var.zip /var directory and all contents

bashrc.zip .bashrc file for /var/hack directory

hack.zip /var/hack directory that sometimes disappeared after performing Kraven's original upgrade

TyFileSplit jdiner's utility for splitting ty files

textpad text editor for Unix files; use DOS2UNIX to convert edited files back to Unix format when finished with editing

xPlusZ Script that allows you to use your remote to perform lots of functions normally available only via bash prompt

DVDPatcher 1.05B Utility for patching the header of a split tystream so it can be imported into SpruceUp or DVD Maestro.

EditTitle Utility for renaming shows, deleting recording history, undeleting shows, and several other useful functions.

SpruceUp 1.0 Release (Build 1061b) Complete DVD authoring software package (demo only)

SpruceUp version 1.1, build 1106 Latest version of SpruceUp (Demo only); this site also has lots of CD-R software, MP-3 apps and lots of other goodies

SpruceUp patch Upgrades demo versions to a fill registered version (read *.nfo file for instructions)

MfsStream Web Module V.98 Module for use with TivoWeb that allows file extraction from the Tivo to your PC

Text Files

Hinsdale's How To for MFS Tools 2.0 Hinsdale's latest; includes instructions for using MFSTools 2.0

Xtreme Upgrade Tree Family tree showing the location of all files on the DTivo following Kraven's upgrade

DirecTivo Hacking FAQ

Newbies Guide to the Tivo Just what it says; required reading for all n00bs!

Hacking the TiVo FAQ The original FAQ for hacking a Tivo; good info to know

[rewrite]

If you are reading this entire HOWTO sticky thread because you are new to this hobby, first of all, CONGRATULATIONS and Thanks for taking the time to read,read,read before asking.

One of the most commonly asked questions is in regards to getting "To be Announced" on the guide for your locals.

There are three things that cause this, two of which we really do not discuss here:

1. You must have the right GUIDE byte
2. You must have the right LOCALS byte

The one we do discuss here is the following:

Assuming you got #1 and #2 right, you must tell your Tivo which locals to load in the channels slots between 1 and 100.

The "old" way was to use mvchannels or 900s.tcl to do this. Most of us do not use this method anymore, primarily because mvchannels chews up CPU cycles and RAM and is typically run in an infinite loop. MVchannels also slows the guide down, something that most ppl cannot stomach.

So the alternative is to use selectlocals.tcl

now, this is the important part:

You must run the proper version of this file to get rid of the "To Be Announced" problem. On a newly extreme'd Tivo, this means that you must run the selectlocals designed for 2.5, not the one for 2.5.2

If you inadvertently run the wrong one, you will continue to get TBA even after several days.

When properly run, the locals guide info should populate within an hour or two.

[Taran]

Instruction file:

[captain_video]

Still more File Downloads:

midupdate.tcl forces your DTivo to download locals guide data when run so guide will populate immediately instead of "To be announced" for locals

Here's some more links and downloads that may be of interest:

Links

Dish cabling and multi-sat hookup Scroll down to the nice diagrams by feldon23 for setting up your DTV system using a 3-LNB oval dish.

Steve Jenkins Tivo Hacking Site Good Tivo Hacking site for newbies to get their feet wet.

Trilight's DVD Guides Some good info on DVD creation

LJ's Tivo Page Some interesting hacks and info posted here

TurboNet/AirNet Home Page Info on how to order, setup and install software for TurboNet and AirNet

9th Tee Excellent source of upgrade items and software for your SA or DTivo

Tivo Community Forum Another Tivo Forum that discusses lots of good Tivo Topics but stresses No Video Extraction talk

Nerd-Out Forums Discussions related to DVD player hacking for eliminating Macrovision, region limitations, etc.

Apex/Hiteker Hacking Page Lots of firmware downloads for various DVD players & other hacking info

Doom9 Forum MPEG discussion forum with lots of good DVD creation info

VCD Help Everything you'll ever want to know about VCDs, SVCDs, DVDs, etc.

Digital Digest Homepage Lots of great info and downloads for DVDs and DivX as well as VCDs & SVCDs

PVR to DVD Info on using a video capture card and a SA Tivo with PowerVCR software for creating MPEGs and burning them to DVD

Tivo to SVCD Procedures and links for creating SVCDs from tystreams. Mostly applies to SA Tivos but also applicable to DTivos with some minor changes

Merch's Tivo Page Another web page with info on creating SVCDs from your Tivo

Fukrulez.com Site that has DVD Maestro and Cinemaster 2000 available in the download section. Also has many guides and tutorials for authoring and burning DVDs and related items

Afterdawn.com Forum that discusses DVD copying and burning

cdrsoft CD and DVD software site; has latest version of DVD Maestro and lots of other great software

TyStudio Home Page Website for the latest files for Olaf & MrBassman's TyStudio

Darkwing's Tivo Site Files for download and links to other sites.

VCDEasy Website Info on making VCDs

Tivo Canada For our northern-based friends that don't have access to Tivo dial-in for guide data.

DVD Lab Home Page Popular Tivo-friendly DVD authoring tool.

Two Kernel Monte info Technical info on monte, right from the horse's mouth.

[frottage]

Not sure if it was just my 25extreme+upgrade install that got hosed or if things are a little out of wack with some of the xtreme config files, but if you are having problems dynamically loading and unloading noscramble, this may be of help to you

note, bash commands, if supplied are in [ ] (remove them when entering actual commands)

1. mount root rw [mount -o remount,rw /]
2. edit .bashrc to properly alias lsmod so that you can see which modules are loaded [alias lsmod="cat /proc/modules"] (or just use cat /proc/modules to see loaded modules)
3. change to /sbin [cd /sbin]
4. check to see if rmmod and insmod are properly linked. In my case inmod was linked with lsmod. If it is wrong, remove it [rm rmmod]
5. if the sym link in 4 was wrong, create a new one [ln -s insmod rmmod]
6. make sure that noscramble.o is in the installed on the tivo system. Check in /lib/modules for noscramble.o
7. mount root read only [mount -o remount,ro /]

To load the noscramble module: [inmod noscramble]
To see with modules is loaded: [lsmod]
To unload noscramble module:[rmmod noscramble]

HTH

Frottage

[atomicfireball]

How to go from DTivo to DVD-R via MacOS X
Written by a newbie, for newbies.

This process allows for DVD creation from extracted clips using Mac OS X. This process takes the raw extracted video/audio and produces DVDs with NO RE-ENCODING. I've never noticed any audio/video lip sync issues. I've fully tested this out with Tivo software 2.5.2. Even produces DVD with true 5.1 digital surround.


PC Software Needed:
TyTool 5 (Awesome! Thanks, jdiner!)
Telnet Client Application (I use "Token 2")
FTP Client Application
DVD Patcher

Mac OS X Software Needed:
Windows 98 running on Virtual PC for OS X
DVD Studio Pro
VideoLAN Client (VLC) version 0.4 (Optional -Great freeware tool for viewing m2v video files)
Toast Titanium (Optional - If burning to DVD-RW)
Photoshop (Optional - if building DVD Menus, graphics, etc.)

Hardware Needed:
DirecTivo with TurboNet card (and TurboNet software) installed
G3 / G4 Mac with SuperDrive
DVD Player capable of reading DVD-R, DVD-RW, 480x480 resolution video (i.e. Panasonic RP82)

NOTE: If you are familiar with noscramble, and it is already installed on your DTivo, skip to Step 5.

1. Record sample material with noscarmble OFF - Record a clip of any program, or, if you already have recordings already in your "Now Showing" list, they will do.

2. Connect to your Tivo via FTP, and binary upload "noscramble.o" and "noscramble.c" into your favorite directory, (i.e. /var/hack). This upload should be done via Virtual PC, because Fetch for the Mac can corrupt files as its not a true binary, but rather "Macbinary". Use FTP Explorer (shareware) on Virtual PC. Quit FTP Explorer.

3. Telnet into your Tivo using Token 2, via Virtual PC. At the bash prompt, go to the directory where you placed the noscamble (i.e. "cd /var/hack"), and run noscramble via the following command: "insmod noscamble.o" (no quotes)

4. Test that noscramble is working by now going over to your Tivo and attempting to play a recorded clip. If you get an error in playing anything recorded, that's great, this is normal, and noscamble is installed.

5. Record Tivo program with noscramble ON - Search the forum for downloading and installing "noscramle.o". You can edit your rc.sysinit to have noscramble.o launch at every startup. All programs you record from now on will be able to be extracted to your Mac/PC.

6. Launch Virtual PC for Mac OS X: (with Win98 as the boot disk), and download all PC software listed above.

7. In "Settings" for Virtual PC, setup to share all volumes with Mac OS X by checking Settings > Shared Folders > Local Volumes.

8. Install TyTool 5 in Virtual PC. Set download path in TyTool 5 to a shared hard disk/folder with Mac OS X (i.e. X:\dtivo). NOTE: if you have your "dtivo" folder opened in Mac OS X, then close this folder as it may not refresh properly since Virtual PC is sharing it. Thus, you may have missing files and/or incorrect file sizes for this folder.

9. In TyTool 5, click "Refresh" and select clips to download. Click "Get" to download files. NOTE: If you can't find the extracted files, do a find file in Sherlock for ".m2v" and ensure the file location. Check that the file size is larger that 0k, if not, you may not have noscramble installed.

9a. After extraction is complete, you can open this file in VLC 0.4 (not Quicktime player!) to view the sample video, no audio.

10. In Virtual PC, launch "DVD Patcher". Change the resolution of the extracted video clips from 480 x 480 to 720 x 480. Make sure that under "Patch" that "First Header Only" is selected. (This step allows you to bring the video clips into DVD Studio Pro.)

11. Prepare your DVD in DVD Studio Pro. Simply drag the pre-separated m2v and m2a clips onto the Assets menu in DVD Studio Pro. NOTE: When clicking "Preview", it will not appear correct, this is normal. (Add chapter stops, Photoshop menus, as desired. See manual for details.) IMPORTANT: Leave DVD Studio Pro running in the background, DO NOT QUIT DVD Studio Pro. (This is done, because you are going to change the video resolution back, and when doing so, if you have to re-launch DVD Studio Pro, it will note an error in the video clips.)

12. When preparation is complete, re-launch Virtual PC, and launch "DVD Patcher" . Change the video resolution back to 480 x 480, First Header Only.

13a. Go back to DVD Studio Pro to Burn DVD. IMPORTANT: DO NOT PREVIEW ANY VIDEO CLIPS at this stage. Just burn to DVD-R.

13b. OPTIONAL: if burning to DVD-RW. In DVD Studio, select File > "Build & Format Disc", then choose to save as a disk image. Launch Toast Titanium, and drag selected DVD image onto Toast. Click "Record" and insert blank DVD-RW. (DVD-RW allows for testing projects on DVD, without making coasters.)

14. Enjoy.

[groundhog]

This is less of a "How To" & More of a "Did you know". I've been reading threads here(& at AVS) for months & never knew that undelete was easily done. I thought that it was still a theory or something that only the most advanced hackers could pull off. But, it's not(thanks to an expert hacker). It's just a basic feature of Netboys "EditTitle3" file. Of course you can also change the titles of shows in NowShowing, but that's what the files for anyway. I knew of the file, just didn't ever read up on it enough to know of all the hidden extra features.

Anyway, here is the EditTitle thread that has the download. CLICK HERE

[hermanator]

http://64.21.8.90/forum/showthread.p...threadid=14453

[Wes]

http://64.21.8.90/forum/showthread.p...threadid=17235

Wes

[superzap]

A TCL script that executes commands on DirecTiVo by running a test call.

Overview:

This allows execution of some DTiVo mods previously released separately and
a few new ones. The previously released mods have been slightly reworked for
this implementation. All of this is done through the DTiVo remote with no PC
connection required after the install. A test call with the command id set
into the call waiting prefix is used to execute the commands.
Tested with DTiVo software v2.5 and v2.5.2.
Not tested with Kraven's v25xtreme upgrade but no problems are anticipated.

Included are these which are optional and can be turned on/off with the remote:

• mvchannels with an interface that requires no custom file modification.
• EdTitle functions to list deleted programs and program history.
• EdTitle functions to undelete programs and delete program history.
• SC.tcl to enable Showcases, TiVo Mags
• NOPPV to reset the PPV indicators
• Enable backdoors and toggle the 30 second skip at boot-up or on demand.
• Run fixdemo recycled on a timer.
• Set timers to change the channel at specific times and days of the week. Both
  ongoing timers and one-shot timers can be set.
• Monitor the DTiVo's internal temperature and issue an on-screen message if
  the temperature exceeds a threshold.
• Run TivoTitle to change program titles to include the program description.
• The no-phone mod allows the TiVo sub to continue to remain active without
  a phone connection (also controls the logs). This can be useful if you don't
  have a land-based phone as in the case of a vacation home or RV. If this is
  not activated, an opt-out of sharing viewing habits can be enabled.

See the README for install and use instructions.

http://dealdatabase.com/forum/showth...threadid=18394

[Barberb12]

Let me try to help all of you newbies like myself build a Serial Cable. I thought it was going to be alot harder than it was. I started by trying to follow the directions in this "How To's Thread" but to no avail. All of the wire colors were wrong, and when I finished I realized had I not figured out an easier way I'd Never have gotten it.

OK You'll need an old serial cable and an old pair of headphones.

First cut the serial cable in two. Do this near the FEMALE end to leave you plenty of cable to use. (you'll eventually dispose of the female end. Then take a knife, (I used my pocket knife) and pry the metal part out of the end of the FEMALE serial plug. Be careful not to cut yourself. You may have to cut back the plastic that you reveal under the metal, But by doing this I was able to find out which wires go to pin 2,3, and 5. When you have done this you are almost done.

Now cut the cable on the head phone cable near the headphones. There may be 3 or 4 wires inside. If there are three you are good to go if there are 4, 2 of them are the same. they should either have the same color insulation. or in most cases none at all. (this is how mine were). This wire or couple of wires we acts as the common ground in the headphones. that is why they are the same. At any rate if there are 2, twist them together, and attatch them to the wire that goes to pin #5.

Obviously At this point you only have two wires left on each cable. try one combination and if it doesn't work you KNOW which wires to switch If the 2 wire colors are black and red, try red to pin 2 and black to pin 3 first.

[captain_video]

There have been so many posts about this topic that it's about time they were addressed once and for all. Here's a couple of links for troubleshooting tips for your Tivo. This works for both standalone and DirecTivo models, where applicable.

TiVo Powering Up Problems

General Tivo Troubleshooting Guide

These links are provided to help you diagnose any problems you may have with your Tivo, whether it's a standalone model or a DirecTivo. I don't have any experience with weaknees.com but 9th Tee seems to offer better prices and is a sponsor of this forum. Please note that I am not affiliated with either weaknees.com or 9th Tee.

I highly recommend 9th Tee for your Tivo upgrade solutions, although you should be able to obtain replacement hard drives at a lower cost. Mark McCorkle is a class act when it comes to providing prompt service and he'll get your order to you in record time for a reasonable cost. Please note that any technical sercive or support for the TurboNet and AirNet adapters is obtained by posting in the Tivo Community Forum. Jafa is the developer of the TurboNet and is a regular at that forum and will answer any and all questions about either adapter, including the older TivoNet. It may take him a while to get to your post so be patient. The best recourse may be to PM him directly with any questions. If you find that you have a defective TurboNet, TivoNet, or AirNet, contact Mark and he will provide you with a link for making an exchange. The adapters have a 30-day warranty but you can exchange an out-of-warranty unit for only $30 with the defective unit.

If your Tivo is in need of service and you do not feel it's something you can fix yourself, there are a couple of service centers that can do it for you. Here's a couple of links:

www.truettelectronics.com

http://digitalrecorder.tv/

There has been much positive feedback from members about Truett Electronics. Call them for info on Tivo repairs. I have no personal experience with digitalrecorder.tv but the owner of the shop has been posting in the Tivo Community Forum and seems knowledgeable about Tivo repairs. He is an authorized Philips DTivo repair center and was working on getting authorization from Hughes for DTivo repairs the last time I checked (he may have obtained authorization by now as it was a while ago when I read his last post). They offer a 6-month parts and labor warranty on Tivo and ReplayTV repairs which is pretty good considering the original labor warranty was about half that.


__________________
Two Philips DSR6000 DirecTiVos, one upgraded to 147 hours and one to 225 hours; both with 2.5Xtreme and TurboNet
Formerly owned and upgraded Hughes DTivos, Philips SA Tivos, ReplayTVs, Panasonic Showstoppers, and Sony UTVs.

[BubbleLamp]

Most of the time booting off Xtreme mounts the CD-ROM just fine. But occassionally the CD won't mount, and this has caused trouble for some. Here's a way to check and correct this problem.

Type mount and see if your CD drive is mounted. It should say something like this:

/# mount
/dev/fd1 on / type minix (rw)
none on /proc type proc (rw)
/dev/hdX on /var/log/mount type iso9660 (ro)

If you don't see that last line, then your CD isn't getting auto-mounted for some reason. To manually mount the CD, do this:

mount /dev/hdX /var/log/mount

Change the X to the correct letter for your CD.

hda = Primary Master
hdb = Primary Slave
hdc = Secondary Master
hdd = Secondary Slave

HTH

[superzap]

The attached TCL script will allow you to display or change various phone configuration data like the dial in number, dial prefix, phone available detection setting, etc. This may be useful if you can not make a successful call because changing the values via the Phone Dialing Options menu requires a successful test call to be made before the values are accepted.

See the first part of the script for some of the names that hold the various values. For tivo os v2.5, v2.5.2 and v3.1.0.

Usage: the first parameter is required and is the name of the value to display or change. The second parameter is optional and is the new value that replaces the old value. If the second value is not specified then no change takes place and only the current value is displayed. To set a value to null use the second value of "{}"

Example, change the dial prefix to
,#401
command from bash:
phoneConfig DialPrefix ",#401"

This thread is for posting howtos only. USE A SEPARATE THREAD FOR ANY QUESTIONS.